New Eyes
by dark master's domain
Summary: this is an original story that I am writing, and Ghost Whisper was the closest that I could find to it so enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Time Is Not on My Side**

**I made this trip before. Every time that mom got really sick, she stayed at the hospital until she recovered. The cancer was eating her alive. But I could remember a time when it was not like that.**

**About eight years ago, we were a normal, happy family. I was fifteen, and my sister was seven. All was at peace in the world as we shared long summers together.**

**Our home was beautiful. A white marble pathway led up to the two story monument that was our house. Wild vines grew along the walls. This gave the house most of its color. A big, brown fence surrounded the entire property. Mom's white Focus sat parked in the driveway.**

**At certain times during the day, the sun hit the house just right. All of the glass would light up and glisten. That is why mom left the car out in the driveway. Being white, the sun made it glisten with everything else in the yard. "Might as well not hide such a beautiful car," she would say with a smile.**

**Being in a place like this, one could not help but feel that things would be perfect forever. One could be wrong. As time passed, I learned that nothing lasted forever. The more that I tried to keep it that way, the quicker it found its own path.**

**I spent most of my time in the back yard. Whether it be drawing or writing or whistling a familiar tune, I always found something to do. Mom kept me in check though. I only had my free time after the work was done. I can remember her scolding me with, "Christian, did you feed the dog?" and "Christian, did you get the wash?"**

**No matter what I did, mom never got mad at me. I got special attention, maybe because I was the only guy. I was not the only one who got special attention, however.**

**My little sister Faith did exactly as she pleased. Mom did not give her chores. I could understand that; she **_**was**_** only seven. Besides, I loved her. If there was one person on earth that I would do anything for, it was Faith.**

**Mom got our names from her religious side. She read from her Bible every day and went out of her way to attend church. Mom told us on several occasions that God gave us to her for being faithful to Him.**

**Although she did not have chores, Faith was able to make herself useful sometimes. She would "fold" clothes for me after pulling them off of the line. She also played with our dog Jack while I washed him. She had a talent for keeping him distracted long enough for me to get the job done.**

**I could not say that I did all of the work. Mom had responsibilities of her own. She kept up the huge house without much help. Home economics was not my specialty. I was not the best cook, either. I tried sometimes, but it was clearly a lost cause. Mom was an excellent cook so I let her have the kitchen to herself. She called it her third "baby."**

**I did not get my creative gene from mom. She was creative in the kitchen, but that was it. My inspiration came from my surroundings. Everything on our property spoke to me in one way or another.**

**During the evening, I liked to hop up in our old recliner on the back porch and let my mind go to work. Jack slept in my lap while I worked. He gave me the peace that I needed to think just by being there with me.**

**Ironically, Jack was a big dog. He was a full grown golden retriever. His size did not bother me. The sunlight made his fur shine radiantly in the afternoon. He never barked or became irritable. Although he was not great as a guard dog, he was the best afternoon companion that I could have asked for. Thank heavens. I would have been really lonely all by myself on those quiet evenings.**

**The back yard was home to some of my favorite places. One place that I was particularly fond of was the underside of the big oak tree. Mom told Faith and me stories about it. She told us how it had been there for fifty years. She played under it when she was a little girl in the same way that we played under it.**

**I liked to sit under the tree and nap. The birds and squirrels did not mind. The tree was huge. Its branches covered the entire back yard like a canopy. We shared the tree with our animal neighbors, and the tree protected us.**

**Another inviting place was the pond. In order to reach it, we made a path through the forest behind our house. Faith and I used the path all of the time in the summer. It quickly became a popular hang-out place. Faith ran herself to death on that path. She forced me to race her. She ended up being excellent at track so I can not complain.**

**Even the trees on the path were nice. The leaves were bright and full of life. I would have sworn that they spoke to us, especially when we needed to hear them.**

**The pond itself was actually more of a natural spring. It was not a pond until I came up with the idea of making it into one. We convinced mom to hire someone to dig a hole and let the spring water fill it up. This was much cheaper than paying for a swimming pool. Mom offered to buy one once, but Faith and I convinced her that we were happy with what we had.**

**After it was full of water, we added the fish. Nothing compliments a home-made pond like a school of fish. Faith had fun with them. She waded through the water and let the fish tackle her legs. She was careful not to step on them. "Aren't they wonderful!" she would say.**

**When it was too cold to swim or play in the water, we sat and talked. Faith was a perceptive girl in her earlier years. She listened to everything I told her and learned things from me. I was guilty of being prideful when I taught her things. We got our smart gene from mom.**

**Mom was naturally intelligent. She had a great education from her time at college. She was known for her memorization skills. We did fairly well on our school work as well. Mom gave the credit to living where we did. She said that we were able to "focus our thoughts" because there were no distractions.**

**Friends were scarce. I only had one or two that I talked with during the school year. Faith was similar to me, but she connected better with people. She gloated about having natural charm. Although she was more open to friendship than I was, she was still very particular with people. I wondered if she went by standards or something ridiculous like that. To made matters worse, the neighbors that we had were older people without children of their own.**

**The friends that we did make did not stay around very long. Our place was somewhat out of the way, and we were too. We did not grow up surrounded by people our age so we did not know how to act around them. Everything was too quiet for their taste.**

**Another thing that chased people away was the property itself. I still am not able to explain some of the crazy things that went on out there. It was not so much scary as it was mysterious. My friends dealt with it, but Faith's friends were younger. They were freaked out by it.**

**For example, anywhere on the property at any particular time, I could hear strange noises. The noises were not your everyday wind sounds, either. Dings from bells, clucks from chickens, even moos from cows became frequent. Unfortunately, we did not own any of these things. The sounds were not intimidating, but they had a bad habit of making me jump. I tried not to pay them any attention. They were trivial.**

**Some sounds were not as trivial. Invisible chickens and cows were one thing, but I began to hear the sound of battle. The Confederates were fighting the Union in our backyard. In the back of the forest near an abandoned pond, that was strange. Battle sounds of war from all parts of time became regular. I was hoping that it was in my head, but I was not that lucky.**

**Other strange occurrences involved mom's cooking appliances. They ended up tossed around the backyard. Jack's food bowl was even a victim. It was at the bottom of the pond when I found it. Good thing I was an excellent swimmer. Faith was absurd about events like these. She made them into games. I told her not to be too hopeful. They could only have been coincidences, right?**

**Even with things like these happening everyday, home was still home to me. I always felt safe there. Nothing was dangerous or wrong to our little family. Only neighbors and friends thought that it was weird. I lived there for seventeen years, and only one event messed with my head during that time period.**

**Once, during the "golden days" as I liked to call them, I was playing with Faith in the backyard. We were minding our own business, and all of the chores were down. Faith was supposed to be with me, but I let myself lose track of her. The sun had gone down.**

**I was picking some fresh apples off of an old apple tree at the edge of the yard when I noticed that she was missing. I gave the yard a scan, but I could barely see anything. Nothing was out of place to my knowledge.**

**I did not become worried initially. I just assumed that she had run off down the path. It **_**was**_** strange that she had gone without me. Mom made us walk the path together although we knew it like the back of our hands.**

**I took a bite out of one of the freshly picked apples and headed for the path. It was the same as it usually was - quiet and peaceful.**

"**Faith?" I called. No answer.**

**It was dark already. My eyesight was not perfect, and my glasses were back on the porch. Seeing her from a distance would be out of the questions. I walked slowly, not because I was worried about her; but it was better to be safe than sorry. As I got farther along the path, I began to hear a faint sound.**

**At first, I thought it was singing. A young voice, possibly my sister's. No, it was not singing. It was laughter. I did not feel like it was coming from just one person. When you are unable to use the sense of sight, hearing seemed to strengthen, not that my sight was anything to brag about. I thought I heard several voices. It reminded me of being at the park, watching a group of kids play together.**

**I finally found my way to the heart of the pond. I felt the water at my ankles. The only issue was I could not see anything. I recognized exactly where I was when I found a familiar tree that we always passed on the way to the pond.**

**The laughter was getting louder. I made an estimate that the kids were only ten or twenty feet in front of me. I squinted my eyes to try to see exactly who they were. I could definitely recognize the shape of my sister's body. The moon reflected some light off of her white-blond hair, and I knew it was her.**

**She was showing off, but to whom was she showing off? I watched in amazement because I had never seen something this bizarre. Faith did not get along with people to begin with, much less strangers. I inched my way over to them.**

"**Faith," I said quietly, "what are you doing?"**

**She heard my voice and stopped moving for a moment.**

"**Playing," she replied, "with my new friends. Come and meet them, Christian. They are really nice."**

**I still did not see anyone, but something was different. Blue streams of energy were forming shapes. Lines were coming together to make bodies. No facial features were visibly clear, but I could at least tell that they **_**had**_** faces. I would have sworn that one of them looked me directly in the eyes.**

"**Come on," I said, and I found my way to her wrist. I pulled her away while she protested.**

"**Hey!" she said, "what is the big deal? What business do you have stopping the game?"**

"**Do you remember what time it is?" I reminded her. "Mom is going to kill me for losing you as it is."**

"**I'm sorry." I could not see her face, but I could hear the remorse in her voice. She was really sorry, and I forgave her easily.**

"**It is alright. Next time though, tell me before you run off to play."**

**She did not respond, but she always told me before she ran off to play by herself from then on.**

**I felt better for a few minutes. I knew that mom was going to kill me, but I also knew where my sister was. It was too late to be out. I should have been more watchful of the time.**

**Mom did want to kill me…..for a moment. For some reason, she was fine after I told her about the "friends." I was having a heart attack, but mom was perfectly fine all of a sudden. That did not sound like her at all. She said that she had a smart daughter who could take care of herself. I felt my jaw drop open.**

**I did not sleep very well that night. I was still worried about the shadow people. Yep, I gave them a nickname. Sue me. I could have lost the most important thing in the world to me that night. Mom's reaction was even more puzzling. How had she not even questioned us?**

**After that night, home was never the same. I caught Faith with her shadow friends five or six other times. It was never early during the day. They preferred to come out at night when the sun was away. Were they vampires? I doubted it. A vampire would have attacked us already.**

**They stopped confining themselves to the pond as well. They made their way closer and closer to home. Mom responded to them with a laugh or a giggle or some other nonchalant reaction. What was I missing?**

**Even the other members of the family thought it was cute. Uncle Chuck was the odd ball out of the family so I expected it from him, but the others surprised me.**

**My Aunt Carol said, "She's growing up really quickly, Madeline. Make sure she behaves herself."**

**My mother would reply, "Yea, she is a special one."**

"**And so cute too," Uncle Chuck threw in. The women got a kick out of that.**

**Everyone thought it was funny except me. I got used to it though. I eventually stopped being over-protective. I just kept an eye on her. She was too important not to.**

**Faith talked about her encounters sometimes. She made sure not to go into the details like names. I began to think that the shadow people were telling her what to say. She thought that something was wrong for her.**

**Even at the age of seven, Faith knew that having friends like those was not normal.**

"**You are perfectly fine," I would lie.**

**Everyone made her feel normal, but I knew better. My sister was special, and it would not go ignored forever. If I did not take care of her, something would happen. I promised myself that. But I made sure that I **_**did**_** take care of her as long as we were together. I just convinced myself to stop being paranoid.**

**Even back then, things with out family were different. It was not just Faith. Uncle Chuck and Aunt Carol shared stories with us all of the time that were similar to ours. I wrote about them whenever I got bored. I should publish that book someday. It would be a best seller for sure.**

**As strange as we were, I did not let myself be bothered. I stayed in my own world. I still loved my sister, my mother, and my crazy relatives. Faith and I played by the pond and napped together under the tree every summer. It was not until the end of my senior year that I became distant. I still visited every summer and on holidays. Being at home kept me happy so I spent a lot of time there - maybe a little too much time.**

**This summer was supposed to be different. I dreaded it. Mom sent an application to several colleges for me. She said I was too smart to waste my intelligence. Little did I know that college was not in my near future. My near future was going to bring me back home.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Why Telephones Are Bad for You**

**It was raining. I loved the rain. One of God's greatest creations was rain. It has a million uses; and at the same time, can be very dangerous.**

**Have you ever thought about the great typhoons and hurricanes across the ocean? Along with wind, rain made those possible. Also, we need it to live. Most of our body was composed of water. If we did not consume it, we could not live very long.**

**God made us specifically so we could use water for our benefits. Why do you think that no one could be allergic to it? Life would be impossible for them, and our benevolent Creator would not allow that. Yep, I was sounding more and more like mom.**

**During a rainstorm, I did not typically use an umbrella, unless it was a very violent rainstorm. I took walks. The falling water made my face feel good. I was not fond of mud though. Mom scolded me whenever I tracked mud into her house. I was more concerned about the yard, but I suppose that the house deserved my attention too.**

**That day was rainy. I was having breakfast at a Burger King. Then, I got a phone call that I had been waiting for a long time. It was from Yale College. That phone call was supposed to change my life. My information was everywhere, but one of the most prestigious schools in the country had accepted me.**

**I could have gone out for that interview in the same week, if my plans were not interrupted. In the same hour that I got the call from Yale, I got another call as well. It was the one person who I had not expected to hear from. I almost did not recognize her voice.**

"**Christian?" the voice on the other line said.**

**At first, I was not sure who was calling. I did not give out the cell phone number to many people.**

"**Yes," I replied, "might I ask who is calling?"**

"**It's me, your sister."**

**Could it be Faith? I supposed that she would sound different but not **_**that**_** much different. I just saw her at Christmas. That was only four months ago. Then, I put it together. It was definitely her. Her voice was just cold and sad. She sounded fifty years old.**

"**What's wrong?" I asked.**

"**Why do you assume something is wrong?"**

"**You sound horrible." I admitted it to her and myself. Faith never sounds horrible.**

"**Thanks."**

**I did not mean it that way. But I could tell that she knew it anyway. She never sounded like this. Even during the times that mom got sick and she called to let me know, she at least had life in her voice. This time was different.**

"**Is something wrong with Mom?"**

**That was my first guess. It had to be what was going on. Faith did not have a habit of calling me. When she did, she was calling to give me a status report. The status could not be very good judging by the sound of her voice.**

"**How did you know?"**

"**Instincts."**

"**Christian, she is really sick. The doctor is saying that she isn't strong enough to make it this time."**

**My heart sank. I had heard that before, but something told me that she was right this time. Back at Christmas, mom was not moving around very well. She made dinner for us, but she stayed on the couch for most of my visit. She did not talk much either. Her smiles were weak.**

"**You need to come home. Mom says that she needs you in case something happens."**

"**I will be right there. Thanks for calling."**

**I did not feel much like talking. My biggest chance at my education was thrown out of the window. I had to get home to see mom. Yale could wait. If they wanted me, they could have patience while I dealt with family matters.**

**Faith gave a heavy sigh and hung up the phone. I put my cell in my back pocket and let my head fall to the table. Outside, the rain went from a light drizzle to a downpour. The rain obviously felt the same way that I did.**

**I could hear mom in my head. In fact, she was telling me to take care of the interview first. She knew how important it was to me. She must have been in horrible shape to tell me to come right away. **

**Mom was diagnosed with cancer seven years ago. At first, she could handle it. I supposed that all forms of cancer worked differently, but hers was not so bad at the beginning. It got worse as time passed. Mom was a strong person. If she could not beat it, no one could.**

**She said that it ran in the family. Now that I think about it, both of my grandparents died that way when I was little. My younger cousin did too. I can remember Aunt Carol running into our house screaming. Her son Charles was diagnosed with a rare type of cancer. I could not remember exactly what his was called, but it was deadly.**

**Charles spent time with us after that. He did not want to be at home. Aunt Carol could not bear to look at him in his condition. He told me that she cried everyday. He thought that by staying at our place, he was keeping her from being upset. I knew better. Aunt Carol and Uncle Chuck loved him to death. They would cry no matter where he was.**

**In his last hours, the five of us stayed close to him. Call it bad luck. I used to try to convince myself that we were not cursed or anything. Nature was just having its way. I was unsuccessful. He did not want us to be upset, but the reality of it was bad. My closest relatives were losing their thirteen year old son, and Faith and I were losing our cousin.**

**He died with a smile on his face. Charles did not fear death. He was in with my mom on the religion thing. I knew that she would be just as stubborn as he was when her time came. The last few times that I visited, she told me not to worry about her. She promised that she was fine, but I knew that she was in denial.**

**I was living in a run down apartment at the time. I was trying to make it on my own. Mom believed me when I told her that I was doing fine. I ended up making just enough to pay rent and buy food every month at my job. I worked as a box boy at a convenience store.**

**I had not been there very long. I just finished taking online courses before I left home. My goal was to barely make it on my own until I was accepted by a college. Mom told me that it would not take very long, and she was right. My grades were flawless, and my school record was perfect. I even had extracurricular activities outside of my exceptional school work.**

**My apartment was really starting to feel like home. I spent about a year there. At first, I hated it. Nothing was in order, and I was in the middle of a big city. I called home pretty often to keep from going insane. I started to settle down after I met the neighbors.**

**One of my neighbors was a crazy old man named Arnold Carver. He was a World War II veteran. He liked to tell people about his wild battles in the war. Before I got there, he visited the Senior Citizen Center because he had nothing better to do. I imagine the old people there got a kick out of him.**

**Once, he stopped by my room looking for a pickle. Anyone who knew me knew that I was not a big vegetable person. I did not have the pickle, so he settled for telling me his favorite war story for the hundredth time.**

"**I remember like it was yesterday," he always began with the same line.**

**He proceeded to talk about Nazi soldiers, the beaches of Normandy, and everything else you could think of. That guy was the best history teacher that I ever had. It is much better to have a living example than reading the stories in textbooks.**

**Another of my distractions was a couple who stayed in the apartment next to mine. They were my age, and they went out regularly. The first day in, they came to meet me and brought me a "welcome to our apartment" cake.**

**They introduced themselves as Amber and Matt. Matt was one year old than I was, and I was one year older than Amber. They met at college - one of those love at first sight things. I got to know them well. I spent time with them whenever I had nothing else to do. People like them remind me of home. Everyone back home was friendly with one another. Amber and Matt were very friendly.**

**The only other person that I found myself interested in was a guy whose name I did not know. Apparently, he lived two rooms down from me. I never spoke with him, but he gave me friendly smiles in the hall. I should have talked to him or visited him I suppose. Maybe he was just shy. Some people will not open up to you unless you open up to them first.**

**I asked Amber and Matt about him once. They were as curious as I was. We brushed him to the side. He may have been a decent friend if we had given him the chance.**

**Miss Angie Salt was the owner of the apartments. She stayed there with us all of the time. I talked with her whenever I met her in the hall. She reminded me of mom in a way. She was in her fifties, and she had long white hair which she kept in a ponytail. We called her Miss Salt although she did not want us to.**

**I lifted my head from the table and let out a sigh. I decided that I should hit the road quickly. The sooner I got out of this town, the sooner I could see mom. Home was a thirty-minute drive so no need to wait around.**

**I stopped for gas on the way out of town. Gas prices were hard on my pathetic box boy pay check. Although I did not have much to spend on it, I never complained about gas. I told myself that it was all going to a good place, not that the government was a good place.**

**My Mustang GT could hold a good twelve gallons. I was already on a fourth so I filled it up. I figured I would need the extra gas for one thing or another.**

**The drive was especially boring this time. I used to pay close attention to the wildlife as I drove. The time I did not pay attention to anything except my destination. Time flew by very slowly when doing it this way. It seemed to take an hour, not thirty minutes. I was relieved to finally make it home.**

**Everything was out of place. The yard was not kept up as it used to be. As a matter of fact, it looked much worse that it did at Christmas. The plants were dying, and the grass had grown out of control. Mom's Focus was under the carport.**

**Jack met me as I got out of the car. He was wagging his tail, but he did not look happy. He looked dirty as if he had not had a bath in awhile. I could see sadness in his eyes. I scratched his chin, and he licked my hand.**

**I walked up to the old, wooden door and rang the doorbell.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Mercy**

**The door opened before I could knock. It took my mind a moment to process what I was seeing. Standing before me was my sister.**

**Faith appeared to be a few inches taller than she was when I saw her at Christmas. She was going through one of those growth spurts. Her hair was a bit longer as well. It had grown below her shoulders. She was beautiful, always had been and always will be me.**

"**Aren't you going to come in?" she asked.**

**That woke me up from my daydream. I had a bad habit of drifting off into my own world at the worst times.**

**I stepped through the doorway, and she hugged me. She did not want to let go, and I felt horrible. She and mom needed me, but I let them down.**

"**I am so glad that you are here," Faith spoke again.**

"**I am glad to be here," I replied. I held her tightly. For a moment, I felt as if I were the one clinging to her for once. "Where is mom?"**

"**She's in her room. She's been waiting for you."**

**I walked through the living room to the stairway. Jack followed me. He could tell that something was wrong with me. We spent a lot of time together so we could sense things like that in each other.**

**Everything upstairs was messy. The red carpet that had been so clean before was dusty and worn. The paint on the walls was fading.**

**Mom's room was at the end of the hallway. My room was the first one on the right. I almost went into it by mistake. Faith gave me a funny look.**

"**Instincts," I told her.**

**I walked slowly until my mind went back to mom. I hurried myself upon thinking of her.**

**I stopped in front of her door. I hesitated at the door handle and pulled my hand back. Faith gave me a pat on the back. Ever since we were children, she had supported me. I was reassured when she looked me in the eyes and smiled at me.**

"**Go ahead," she said, "it's going to be alright."**

**I smiled weakly at her and turned the handle. The door opened up revealing a room that I was very familiar with. Mom was laying on the bed with her eyes closed. I thought she was asleep at first. I made my way over to her.**

"**Mom?" I said quietly.**

**She opened her eyes. They were dark, darker than I had ever seen them. Even with the curse of death in her eyes, she looked happy. Her expression was comforting.**

"**Christian, I see that your sister finally reached you." Her voice was weak. She spoke slowly and quietly.**

"**I'm sorry. I have been really busy. My phone has been tied up lately." I was not trying to give excuses, but it was sounding that way.**

**I did not tell her about the call from Yale. She would have yelled at me for not going for the interview. Getting accepted into a major college like Yale was one of her goals for me.**

"**It is fine. I am just happy that you have been making it on your own."**

"**Trust me, it is not as impressive as you think it is." I laughed at myself a little when I said this.**

"**You are my son. You can be as impressive as you want to be." She took my hand and kissed it gently.**

**Faith was not the only one who had been on my side for my entire life. My mother never stopped telling me how special I was. She put both of her children on a pedestal. It was as if our few accomplishments made her the proudest woman in the world.**

"**Listen," she began again, "the reason that I told Faith to call you is that I need you to take me to the hospital."**

"**You can't take care of yourself here?"**

"**I can't take care of myself at all. I need to be somewhere safe. This house is not in good condition anymore. Your sister does as much as she can, but it is too big a job for her."**

**I looked at Faith. She looked distraught with herself. She was biting her bottom lip. No wonder she was so worn out. I could not imagine a fifteen year old girl trying to keep a place like that in order all alone.**

**I knew better than to argue with mom. She was on the verge of death. An argument would not have been the right thing for her then. Her heart was too fragile and too important to me.**

**I wanted to cry. The woman that I grew up admiring was in terrible pain, and none of us would be able to make it go away. It was obviously my fault. I was selfish. I should have stayed home when I noticed the condition that she was in.**

"**It is not your fault." Did mom read my mind? It would not have been the first time. On more than one occasion, she talked as if she knew what I was thinking before I said it out loud. I did not respond.**

**Faith and I helped mom get downstairs. Walking must have been painful. She tried not to grimace for our sake, but we could see through her attempt.**

**Time became slow at the bottom of the stairway. Mom did not want to leave yet. She felt incomplete without saying goodbye to a very important place.**

"**Wait," she spoke softly, "take me to the kitchen."**

**I was still not willing to argue with her, but any extra steps would be more hurtful than helpful. We went to the kitchen anyway. Mom leaned over the table and gave the room a long look. She was not satisfied with the shape it was in. I could tell by the look on her face.**

"**Take care of this house if something happens to me," she told me.**

"**I promise."**

**Within the next five minutes, we made it to the car. Jack followed us out, but I was not going to take him with us.**

"**Go back inside, my friend. We will be back as soon as possible."**

**He understood my orders and entered the house through the dog-door with his head lowered. He whimpered as I started the engine and left the driveway.**

"**Do you want to go back to Anne's Memorial?" I asked.**

"**That's fine, dear."**

**St. Anne's Memorial Hospital was something of a safe haven for mom. It was built before she was born, and everyone from our area had been using it. This would be my sixth visit in eight years.**

**The first was my fault, sort of. I broke my arm when I fell out of the oak tree. That is the way that the story was told, but I remembered it a little differently. My instincts told me that I was pushed.**

**Those aggravating friends of my sister's did it. Conveniently, they were the friends that no one could see. Faith even apologized after it happened. Her apology confirmed my suspicions.**

**The other visits to Anne's Memorial were on account of mom. Ever since she was diagnosed, she had been going on and off. She went every time that the pain flared.**

**Our ride to the hospital was not the same as most of the rides in my car. I turned off the radio. Disturbing rock music would certainly not make mom feel any better. The hospital was only a fifteen minute ride from home so I did not take the time to find anything else on the radio.**

**Anne's Memorial was huge. It was not so much bigger than the average hospital, but it was still easy to get lost there. Unfortunately, I had not spent enough time there to have it figured out.**

**As we pulled into the parking lot, I lost my confidence. I began to doubt that even being at the hospital would help mom heal. I needed to distract myself.**

"**Was it this big last time?" I asked Faith. Of course it was the same size, but I made like I had forgotten.**

"**Yes," she replied, "where has your memory gone?"**

"**Your guess is as good as mine."**

**We helped mom out of the car. She tried to pull away and walk on her own, but we did not let her. The sliding doors as the front of the building helped her get inside without getting hurt.**

**The doors opened up into the visitor's check-in room. The walls were painted a soft, light blue color. A small fountain was in the center of the room to the right of the front desk. Faith helped mom into a chair in the waiting area while I took care of things at the front desk.**

**A polite looking receptionist smiled at me from behind the desk.**

"**How may I help you?" she asked.**

"**My mother needs a room in the Patient Building. She isn't feeling very well," I answered.**

"**Oh, I am sorry to hear that. Do you have a specific doctor that you would like to see her during her stay?"**

"**Yes, ma'am."**

"**Well, you can take care of all of that on this form."**

**She handed me a small pamphlet to fill out. I scanned it over. It had basic information as well as treatments, allergies, previous visits, etc. I'd watched mom fill this out a few times, but I was old enough to do it for her this time.**

**I went to sit down next to Faith and my mom. Faith was watching a television in the corner of the room, and mom was resting her eyes. I took my time with the form. I signed her in to stay in the Patient Building for monitoring. I knew which doctor to request.**

**In the past few visits, mom had become close to a young doctor. His name was Alan Lopez. He was part Latino. She liked him because he had something in common with her. He was a big believer in God. Alan was about forty years old, but he looked much younger. He had a charm about him. Faith and I even liked him.**

**I filled out the form and walked back up to the desk to give it to the receptionist. She was taking a phone call, but she motioned for me to stay there. I waited for a moment for her to finish talking.**

"**Thanks you for filling this out. I will call Doctor Lopez right now and have him come talk with you while the computer processes your information."**

**We did not have to wait around long. Apparently, Doctor Lopez was not busy with patients or other business. He came from behind a screen door that I assumed led to his office.**

"**Well, it is nice to see my friends again. How is everyone today?" His Latino accent was cheerful.**

"**Not great," I replied, "mom needs for you to take of her in the Patient Building. She is hurting."**

"**What is wrong Miss Sharp?" he asked, now looking at my mother.**

"**It is time, Alan." I had never heard her refer to him as just Alan before, but he did not seem to mind. He gave her a nod of understanding.**

"**I see. Well, I will make sure you have a comfortable room. You will have to stay here until the computer gets you registered. Would you like me to stay with you?"**

"**No thank you, but we will have someone call you if we need you." Mom gave him a half-hearted smile.**

"**Ok, Miss Sharp. Take care of yourself and don't hesitate to let me know if you need anything."**

**He walked back through the same screen door as before.**

"**We have some time to kill," I said, "it may be awhile before you are assigned to a room."**

"**Your sister is probably hungry," Mom replied, "take her to the cafeteria for some lunch."**

**I had not even thought about lunch. I glanced down at my watch. It was 1:15 p.m.**

"**I'm fine," Faith said, but she looked famished. I remembered what mom said about her doing all of the work around the house. I would be starving too if I had to keep that place in order.**

"**Faith, you need to have **_**something**_** for lunch," Mom told her.**

"**I am getting a little hungry myself," I added.**

**We convinced Faith that she needed to eat something, but mom elected to stay behind and rest. I turned my cell phone on so she could call from the waiting room if she needed us. I told the receptionist to keep an eye on her.**

**I was not sure exactly where the cafeteria was, but I went by the signs on the walls. They pointed to different vicinities in the hospital. I asked a janitor which way I should be going because I could not find the way even with the signs.**

"**Take the elevator down to the bottom floor," he said.**

"**I thought that this **_**was**_** the bottom floor," I replied.**

"**No, the hospital is built on a hill. The first floor is like a basement. This is technically the second floor."**

**I had not paid enough attention to realize it, but he was right. From the rear entrance of the building, it would have been easier to notice, but we were definitely on the second floor.**

"**Thank you, sir."**

**We found our way to the elevators, and I pressed the down button. We did not wait very long for the doors to open. We stepped inside and were joined by an older gentleman.**

"**Where to?" he asked.**

"**First floor," I answered.**

**He pressed the 1 on the button panel. I noticed that the hospital had a total of eight floors. That did not include the rooms in the Patient Building across the street where mom would be staying. I was happy that she was not going to be in this building. I would have gotten lost for sure.**

"**Which of you are sick?" the gentleman asked.**

"**Neither actually," I replied, "we are with our mother. She has cancer."**

"**I'm sorry to hear that." He had a nice suit on. He was not a worker from the hospital, because he was not wearing one of the outfits that the rest of them had on. "I am having a cat scan done."**

**He looked tired. He may have been waiting for a long time. The hospital was so cluttered up with patients that it was normal to have to wait awhile to have something done. Still, a cat scan seemed like one of the more simple tasks. **

**The elevator door opened with a **_**ding**_**.**

"**Nice meeting you folks," the man said.**

**We went ahead down the hall. He should have gotten off with us. There were no floors lower than the first so he had nowhere else to go, but he remained in the elevator anyway. I ignored it.**

**I saw a sign which said to go right to reach the cafeteria. The halls were too confusing for a sign to be of much help in that place. I trusted my gut and took the path that I thought looked most reasonable.**

"**Any idea if we are going the correct way?" Faith asked me.**

**I stopped and adjusted my glasses. "Not a clue, but we will find it eventually," I replied.**

**I saw another reception counter at the end of the hall.**

"**Do you think we should ask which way to go?" Faith asked again. She had a good point. I was decent at several things, but my sense of direction was horrible. I approached the desk.**

"**Which was is the cafeteria?" I asked the receptionist.**

"**That would be right across the hall, young man," she replied. She pointed to an open door with a big sign that said **_**HOSPITAL CAFETERIA**_**. Naturally, I would miss that, but I smelled the food now. I should have been using my nose instead of my eyes.**

"**Thank you."**

**We navigated our way across the hall. People were flooding us from all directions. The cafeteria was obviously one of the more popular attractions there. Faith grabbed my hand before we got to the door. It was a good idea. I did not want for her to get lost, especially not here.**

**Upon entering the cafeteria door, the smell of food surrounded us. I had to admit, I was not a huge fan of cafeteria food, but I was hungry. Just then, I spotted a small sub station in the corner of the room. I convinced myself that if anything there would taste good, it would be a sub sandwich. Faith noticed it before I did. She was pulling me that way.**

**We both ordered turkey and cheese, but Faith's was a six inch. A six inch would not have satisfied me at that time. We ate them passionately.**

**As I was wiping my mouth with a napkin, the cell phone rang. Mom was on the phone in the waiting room.**

"**Christian, call Carol and have her feed Jack while we are gone."**

**I had forgotten all about him. There was no telling how long we would be there, and he needed someone to feed him. Aunt Carol always took care of Jack while we were away from home .**

"**Thanks for reminding me," I said, "I will call her as soon as we are finished eating."**

"**Also, you need to go across the street and check into a hotel. I know that the both of you will not be able to stay in the Patient Building with me all night."**

"**Are you sure, Mom?" I mean, Faith could stay with you. I could go back home and come back tomorrow."**

"**No, she needs you to stay with her. She does not need to sit up all night waiting for me to feel better. She has been putting up with me for awhile like this."**

"**Ok. We will come back to the waiting room, and I will leave Faith with you. Then, I will go across the street."**

"**Sounds like a plan. See you in a bit."**

"**Bye."**

"**Mom?" Faith asked after I hung up the phone.**

"**Yes, she is still waiting. She wants us to check into a hotel room across the street for the night. We can't both stay in the Patient Building all night with her. It is a good idea."**

**She became quiet. I could tell that she was thinking pretty hard about something. I settled on staying the night in a hotel and checking on mom in the morning.**

**I made a point to call Aunt Carol before I left the cafeteria. She was devastated to hear about mom. She wished her the best and promised to look after Jack until we got back. She also made me promise to call every night to give her status reports.**

**After my phone call, we found our way back to the waiting room. Mom was asleep in the chair. I checked my watch. 2:30 p.m.**

"**They should have gotten a room ready by now," I complained. I figured this would be a good time to check on the hotels.**

"**Stay here with mom; I am going to reserve a room for us across the street," I said to Faith.**

"**No, she is asleep. Take me with you," she argued.**

"**There would not be much point in you coming with me. It won't take very long."**

"**Christian Sharp, you will take me with you, and that is final."**

**Her deep, blue eyes convinced me to let her go. At least we could keep one another entertained. She had a way with people, and it could have been useful to have her with me.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: The Calm Before the Storm**

**In my defense, there were not many choices across the street. I saw a Holiday Inn, Super 8, and a Comfort Inn and Suites. Fine, maybe there were a couple of choices. I settled on Holiday Inn because it was close to a pancake house. Faith would support that choice.**

**The prices were not great, but I was paying with the credit card. Mom taught me the correct way to use cash. "If you have a bill that is over one hundred dollars, use the credit card," she told me. We shared the credit card, but she let me hold on to it.**

**The woman at the desk checked us into a suite on the third floor. She made sure to give me an extra key. That irritated me somewhat. Not everyone lost the key. She also gave me a look that I did not appreciate. It was one of those **_**I'll be watching you**_** looks, like I would do anything wrong.**

**I did not bring extra clothes. I did not have time. Faith always had an extra outfit with her. She carried around what she called an "emergency bag" which had things in it especially for times like this. During road trips, she kept paper, pencils, clothes, and everything else you could think of in her bag. I was too impatient to do something like that. I told myself that I would go to a Wal-Mart or somewhere if I needed something to wear.**

"**Stairs or elevator?" I asked Faith as we left the desk.**

"**Stairs would be better for you, but I don't feel like climbing a flight of stairs right now," she replied.**

**Better for me? "Smarty pants," I mumbled under my breath. "Elevator it is."**

**Great. The elevator was filled with the sound of traditional rat pack music. I appreciated the pioneers of the music industry and all, but I could not have tolerated this for very long.**

**I looked at the room key. The room number was 108. The elevator opened, and I scouted the hall for our lucky number. I noticed a laundry room about half-way down the hall. **_**See,**_** I told myself, **_**who needs an extra set of clothes**_**? **

"**At least you can wash your clothes if we end up staying longer than one night," Faith teased me. I should have seen that coming.**

"**Sorry if I don't bring the entire house with me every time that I go somewhere," I teased her back. It was not much of a comeback, but I was not as good as she was at trash talking. I did not expect to beat her at it.**

**Our room was at the end of the hall. Big surprise there. At least we had a good view of the highway. If we got bored, we would just watch vehicles drive by all day. I slipped the room key into the lock and opened the door.**

**Exactly as I thought it would be, it was a typical hotel room. Two beds, a shower, and a small kitchen appeared to be the definition of "suite." I was not impressed.**

"**Looks basic enough to me," I said.**

"**Only you would complain about a hotel room, Christian. If you wanted a palace, you could have paid for the deluxe," Faith gave me a grin as she spoke.**

"**In case you haven't noticed, I'm not made of money."**

"**Trust me; I noticed."**

**We dropped our things on the beds. I chose the one closest to the door. Faith always wanted the one closest to the window, and she always got what she wanted. I did not really care; I let her have it. I grabbed the phone and dialed the hospital.**

"**May I speak to Madeline Sharp?"**

**They transferred me to the Patient Building. **

"**Christian?" mom sounded a bit better.**

"**Hi, Mom. We are settled in."**

"**Good. You two are only allowed to visit once every hour together, but I talked them in to letting you stay as long as you want one at a time."**

"**Do you want us to come over there now?"**

"**If you don't mind. I would like to speak to you about something important."**

**Something important? I could not think of anything **_**too**_** drastic, but I took her word for it. **

"**We will be there in a few minutes. See you, Mom." I hung up the phone.**

"**Leaving already?" Faith asked.**

"**That's the idea," I answered.**

"**And I was just getting comfortable."**

**I decided to skip the hospital and drive straight to the Patient Building. There would be no point in wasting time arguing with people at the hospital.**

**The Patient Building was no pushover in size. I supposed that it would be that way for all of the patients in recovery. I preferred the red and green paint job on it as opposed to the plain white that I had been staring at in the other building.**

**This building had sliding glass doors like the hospital, but that was the only thing that they had in common. The inside of it was more comforting. Everyone had a smile on their face. It made sense. Most of them had just been through grueling surgery. Soft colors like yellow, light blue, and pink decorated the walls. Even the seats in the waiting room had colored pads on them. They matched the walls.**

**I walked up to the front desk. Seriously, how many front desks would I be walking up to today? **

"**Miss Sharp is in room 508," the guy told me.**

**Another building with over one hundred rooms. Sounded about right to me. Luckily, I enjoyed exploring large buildings for hours in vain only to get lost in them. Did I mention how much I enjoyed sarcasm?**

"**Stairs or elevator?" I asked Faith again laughing this time.**

"**You have got to be kidding me," she replied, "don't test my patience, Christian." She tried to sound intimidating, but she failed by smiling at herself.**

**I liked the elevator better here. It played modern pop music - a step in the right direction for elevator music. Still, I could have done without Justin Timberlake. Faith seemed to be enjoying it. Her head was nodding to the beat. I rolled my eyes.**

**We got off on the seventh floor. Finding room 508 should have been easy enough. We could have just marched all the way to the end of the hall to the last room. It would have broken tradition for mom's room to be easy to find.**

**To my surprise, it was only the **_**second**_** to the last room. Maybe my luck was changing for the better. I did not get my hopes up.**

**Mom was propped up in bed eating an apple. She looked better, but I was sure that Doctor Alan had pills in her.**

"**They told me that citrus fruit would make me feel better," she said cheerfully. **

"**It's full of vitamins. It can't hurt you for sure," Miss Smarty Pants had to put in her two cents. Mom gave me an interesting look. Did I say that out loud?**

**A small clipboard hung on the end of mom's bed. It caught my attention. I was curious to know what mom's condition was, but I decided to leave it alone. She seemed fine, and that was all that mattered to me.**

"**Stop worrying about me," Mom spoke, "we have things to talk about."**

"**We will have to talk one at a time," I replied. I looked over to Faith.**

"**It's alright, Faith can wait outside. I won't keep you long."**

"**No fair," Faith complained, " why don't I get to hear the important conversation?"**

"**I will have a talk with us as well," Mom turned her attention to her. I knew that their conversation would not be nearly as exciting as the one she was going to have with me.**

**Doctor Alan walked in dressed in his white doctor's outfit. He had one of those stethoscope things in his hand.**

"**Ready for your checkup, Madeline? - Oh, we have guests," he said looking at Faith and me.**

"**How is she, doctor?" I asked.**

"**You tell me," he answered.**

**I gave mom another look. She looked decent, better than this morning for sure.**

"**Better?" I guessed.**

"**That would be correct. I gave her a shot for the pain so she could rest. She appears to be fine at the moment, but I could not tell you for sure." He scratched his chin as if he was puzzled by something.**

**Mom was a complicated person. Her expressions made it near impossible to tell what was going on in her head. Unfortunately, Faith got that quality from her. They were able to confuse someone without even trying. Mom would answer me straight if I asked her what she was thinking about, but Faith would tell me whatever she wanted to.**

"**Oh, you doctor types worry too much," Mom said.**

"**I certainly hope that you are right, Madeline. Now it is time for your checkup. I will tell you two when I am done," Doctor Alan said as he politely motioned for us to leave the room.**

**We left them alone and waited around in the hallway. Faith was quiet. She usually complained when something bothered her. Maybe this was too tender a subject. Although she was fine at the time, we could have lost mom at any second. I wanted to distract her from whatever was on her mind.**

"**What do you want for dinner?" That was perfect. Faith loved nothing more than a good meal. As much as she ate though, she was a skinny girl. All of the work around the house probably kept her from gaining any weight.**

"**I'm not very hungry, but you should get something for yourself."**

"**What's wrong, Faith? Talk to me."**

"**I'm just worried about her." I could tell that she was fighting tears.**

**I walked over to her and put my arm over her shoulder. I was not about to let her get upset.**

"**Hey, you are my sister. You know that I am going to take care of you no matter what happens. Mom is going to be fine." I hoped that I was not lying to her.**

**She did not answer. Maybe she did not trust me because I had not been there for her lately. Maybe she was just tired.**

**The door opened, and Doctor Alan came out with a smile. "She said to send you in, Christian. I will be in the other building until morning. I will check on your mother again then." He gave us a cheerful wave and left.**

"**Stay here for a minute," I told Faith, "I'll be right back."**

**I left her there by herself in the hallway. Mom did not have the same look on her face when I went into her room the second time. She was no longer smiling, but her expression was still comfortable.**

"**Come sit beside me," she spoke.**

**I walked to the side of her bed and found a chair to sit in. It must have been the one that Doctor Alan was using because it was still warm.**

"**What's wrong?" I asked her.**

"**Listen, there are some things that you need to know in case something happens," she spoke slowly to make sure that I heard every word.**

"**Do you think that you are going to make it?"**

"**You know that I can not go on any longer like this. I am dying, but do not be worried. I will be better off without having to deal with the pain."**

**It was hard to swallow, but I wanted her to be happy. **

"**Our family has many secrets, Christian - secrets that could be dangerous to you."**

"**Dangerous?"**

"**Yes. Your sister is one of them."**

**Faith? How was she dangerous?**

"**What about Faith? What makes her -"**

"**She is special. Remember years ago when you found her in the forest?"**

**Finally, I was ready to hear this story. But how did mom know what was going on with Faith, and I did not? She was not even there with us that night.**

"**Yes, I remember."**

"**She was playing with spirits. She can see them and commune with them. Not many people can."**

"**Spirits, like the ones in movies and books? Like dead ones?"**

"**Yes, exactly like those." Mom let out a cough.**

**This was getting weird. I started to think that mom's medicine was messing with her brain.**

"**The medicine is fine," she made me jump a little when she said this. "If you have not figured this out yet, I can read minds. I wasn't sure if you already knew.**

"**There is plenty for me to tell you but not enough time to tell it all. It is true that Faith and I have abilities that are beyond that of the average person. This may sound strange to you but-**

**Strange was not the word.**

"**everyone in our family can do something special, including you."**

**Me? I had never done anything strange like talking to invisible people or reading minds.**

"**You see, Christian, we are all very different people individually. We are spiritualistic. Go home with Faith tomorrow and find my diary. I can not explain all of this to you here and now, but the diary has everything you need to know in it. It is under my pillow where I usually keep my Bible.**

"**Go to Carol and Chuck. They will help make things clear to you. The closer that I come to death, the stronger your powers will be. Try not to be surprised by whatever happens tonight. Your sister developed her abilities more quickly than you did, but you will begin to experience things soon."**

**I felt my jaw drop open. I always knew that something was different about us, but not something of this level. Then, I asked the smartest question that I could possibly have asked.**

"**Mom, what is my ability?" I know, genius.**

"**I'm not sure. You will not know until you begin using it. We are all different. I am not even sure what all Faith can do. I just know that she is special."**

"**Are you about to tell her all of this?"**

"**No, I am just going to comfort her. She is very depressed right now. The honor of telling her this is yours."**

**I got up and walked toward the door still in shock. My mind was wrapping around everything that my mom told me.**

"**Hey," she called back to me. I looked over my shoulder in her direction. "Come give me a hug."**

**I hugged her, and she gave me a kiss on the forehead.**

"**Sorry to spring all of this on you all of a sudden. It will be easier to understand after you talk to Carol and Chuck."**

**Of course it would be easier. I would just understand how my sister was able to talk to spirits. I still had not figured out what **_**my**_** ability was. **

"**I heard that," Mom laughed. "Do not let this scare you, Christian. You and Faith are both very intelligent. You will be able to handle your powers like experts. And never forget how much I love you two."**

"**We love you too, Mom." I smiled at her. "Do you want Faith now?"**

"**Yes, if you do not mind."**

**I told Faith that it was her turn and sat down on the bench outside of the room. I heard thunder in the distance. I was not interested in the weather, however, until I heard the rain fall.**

**We left the Patient Building to go back to the hotel. I had a strange feeling, but I convinced myself that it was just my nerves.**

"**About dinner," Faith started. Her stomach growled. We both laughed.**

**The rain was falling hard at this point, but I was pretty good at driving in the conditions. It helped that the hotel was right around the corner.**

**I let Faith take a shower first. I sat and listened to the rain. It was really pouring. It was not until I got bored with the rain that I noticed the television. I needed a distraction so I turned it on. Of course I movie perfectly suitable to the situation was on. "Ghostbusters." Of course.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 : Awakening**

**I went to sit on the balcony while Faith took her shower. I had one more thing to do before my work would be done, and I could relax. I took the cell phone out of my pants pocket and dialed Aunt Carol's phone number.**

"**Hello" she sounded weary, but who could blame her?**

"**Hi, it's Christian."**

"**Christian, I have been waiting for you to call. How is my sister doing?"**

"**She seemed a bit better the last time that I saw her. She should be asleep right now."**

"**And how are you and Faith holding up?"**

"**We are alright, but I have a question."**

"**Madeline told you about our family, didn't she?" her voice faded.**

**All that I could hear for the next few seconds was the sound of silence. I did not feel that I needed to answer that question because Carol obviously already knew the answer.**

"**I see," she continued, "I could explain it to you, but now is not the best time. You need to rest. We will talk more later."**

**As close as Faith and I were to Carol and Chuck, I wished that one of them had told me about this before. Everyone in our family had to know about it.**

"**I will see you later," I replied.**

"**Bye, dear." She hung up the phone.**

**Being mom's sister, I assumed that Carol had an ability as well. I doubted that Chuck was special like we were, but he **_**did**_** marry someone special. He had to have an idea about what was going on. I wondered if Charles had inherited an ability from his Aunt Carol. He never mentioned it.**

**At the moment, I was more interested in figuring out what I could do. I was obviously not able to speak to ghosts or read minds. I thought back to the night when I found Faith in the forest. I had not seen the spirits that she was playing with, but I **_**did**_** see something that was not normal.**

**While I was trying to make sense of who Faith was playing with, blue streams of what appeared to be energy had manifested. That was a start. Faith never mentioned energy streams when describing her friends. My power must have had something to do with that. I let my mind wander. **

**The balcony had a ceiling above it so the rain should have not been able to hit me. It did, however, because of the strength of the wind. My face was refreshed by the cold rain. The temperature must have been dropping. The rain gave me a slight chill.**

**Faith joined me on the balcony after a short time. She was wrapped in a white bath robe, and her hair was still wet from her shower. She sat in the chair across from me.**

"**Your turn," she said.**

"**Where did the robe come from?" I asked.**

"**From the bathroom, of course. There is another one in there. You should use it while your clothes are washing in the laundry room."**

"**Thanks for the tip."**

"**No problem." She pulled out a hardback novel, and I left her there reading.**

**I the cold rain from the balcony actually felt better than the warm water in the shower, but it would not have cleaned me as well. I let my body rest while the water fell on me.**

**Then, something went wrong. The water stopped falling. At first, I thought it was the result of faulty plumbing. I opened my eyes to find yet another surprise. The bathroom light was flickering. I pulled a towel from an iron bar that was mounted to the wall next to me. I wiped my face with it quietly. When I stepped out of the shower onto the tiled floor, the light went out completely.**

**I was not afraid, but I **_**was**_** confused. I walked carefully so I would not slip on the wet floor as I felt my way around the room. I found the door handle, but I could not find the lock. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed something in the direction of the mirror.**

**What I saw was a tiny, blue light that was about the size of a penny. I watched it for a moment as it hovered in place. I found myself drawn to it. I reached in that direction, and it began to grow in size. It seemed to peak at the size of a softball.**

**I was startled when the light began to move. Up close, it appeared to be trapped within the boundaries of the mirror. I was reminded of the fairy from Peter Pan - Oh, what was her name? Tinker Bell? **

**The light began to shrink after flying around the mirror. When it disappeared, the bathroom light returned. My eyes had to readjust themselves. I slipped on the bathroom robe, put on my glasses, and picked up my dirty clothes. I left the bathroom without intention of going back.**

**Faith was still on the balcony. Her head was leaning over. She was immersed in her book.**

"**You were in there awhile. Did you have any great adventures?" she giggled as she asked. The funny part was I had not even opened the screen door before she started talking. Sounded like something mom would do to me.**

"**You would be surprised," I answered her.**

"**I have been meaning to ask you," she lifted her head and looked at me, "Mom said that you had something to tell me."**

**She reminded me of the talk that mom had assigned for me to have with her. I had the honor of explaining our family's secret. But how could I? That is why mom wanted me to do it. She knew that I would be able to explain it to Faith without scaring her.**

"**Oh, right," I began. **_**Here we go.**_** I thought for a moment before continuing. "Do you remember your friends from years ago?"**

"**My friends from school?"**

"**No, the other friends." Emphasis on **_**other**_**.**

**She became quiet. She put her book down on the coffee table beside her chair.**

"**Yes." That was a short answer.**

"**They weren't alive, Faith. You were playing with ghosts." There, I said it. That was not too hard.**

"**I already knew that."**

**I was silent this time. Why was I always the last person to figure everything out?**

"**I could talk to them, Christian. They told me that they were dead," she spoke again.**

"**Why did you never tell me about that?"**

"**Mom told me not to. She didn't want to scare you." Scare me? Mom should have known better. I had an open mind, sort of. "By the way, I never figured this out. What is your power?"**

**Finally, something that Faith did not know. The only problem was I did not either.**

"**I don't know yet."**

**She laughed at me. "You have a lot to learn then." She picked up her novel and began reading again. **

"**As much as I hate your picking on me, you are right. Mom said that I would learn more about it in time. I guess that I will just have to be patient."**

"**Yep. Now go put your clothes in the laundry room. You will need them tomorrow."**

**She had a point. I left the balcony and went to get my dirty clothes off of the bed. Faith was shaking her head as I walked away. She was laughing to herself, "I can't believe that he doesn't know what it is yet."**

**I looked back at her, and she stuck her tongue out at me.**

**I got the room key and put it into my pocket before leaving with my clothes. I did not want to get locked out. There was no guarantee that Faith would have let me back in. I followed the hallway back to the laundry room. Luckily, none of the washers were occupied. **_**Not to busy for a hotel,**_** I thought to myself.**

**I put my pants and shirt in the washing machine and pressed the start button. If you remembered, I was not good at home economics, but this machine seemed fairly easy to work. I was glad. I was not about to go back and ask Faith to help me. She made fun of me any chance that she got so I would not give her the chance.**

**I was not sure how long it would take so I set it to thirty minutes. I now had time to kill. Exploring sounded good. I left the laundry room and went down the hall in the opposite direction of our room.**

**About thirty feet from the laundry room, I stumbled across a rest area for the guests. There were soda machines and restrooms. Two elderly guys were playing chess at a booth. The one facing me gave me a wave. Only then did I realize that it was 9 o'clock. Time flew by when you are having fun. Only this was not what I called fun. **

"**Checkmate!" one of the old guys said. Something was off about him. He seemed to be glowing, literally. **

**There was a bright light in the old guy's immediate area. It was not coming from the window. Actually, it seemed to be coming from him. **

**At the same time, I could see another color. The other old guy was different as well. Instead of a bright light, his was a navy blue color. Watching it made me almost sad. It was late, and I was tired. I convinced myself that my eyes were playing tricks on me.**

**I walked over to the machine and bought myself a Coca Cola. I gave the old guys another look, but the colors were gone. The winner of the chess game waved at me, and I waved back. I shook my head and left them there.**

**Faith was lying on the bed back in our room. She had put away her novel and was now watching television. **

"**Where did you get the Coke?" she stared at me as I walked over to her.**

"**There is a machine down the hall. Did you want something?"**

"**I'm fine, thanks. Where did you get quarters?"**

"**I'm not completely broke." I made her smile. "I have to go back and get the clothes in a few minutes. If you want something before then, tell me."**

"**Will do, big brother." She had not called me that in awhile. I thought that she might finally be warming back up to me. I could have been wrong; she could just have been enjoying the company.**

**I sat beside her, and we watched some show on ABC Family. I was not paying the television much attention though. I was amazed at how much Faith had grown since Christmas. Mom's little girl was a young lady. I would never have admitted it to her, but she was as smart as I was.**

**I must have dozed off because when I opened my eyes, Faith was looking down at me.**

"**How was your nap?"**

"**Great," I replied, "but I can't remember taking one."**

**Faith giggled. "It's time for you to get your clothes. You don't want some bum stealing them before you get them out of the washer."**

**I sat up and leaned my feet over the side of the bed.**

"**Hey, take me with you this time. I want to see the rest area thingy." She had that Faith-like glimmer in her eyes. No point in resisting her. **

"**Come on."**

**We went back down to the laundry room first. Like before, no one was there to bother us. I got my things from the washing machine, and Faith put them in her bag for safekeeping. We left the laundry room and headed for the rest area. **

**The old guys were no longer there, and neither were the strange colors from before.**

"**This is so cool!" Faith looked excited. She found something that I missed earlier. She ran over to an old pinball machine in the corner and tried to play. **

"**How did I miss that?" I asked out loud.**

"**Do you have any more quarters?" she asked me.**

"**Not on hand, sorry." I replied.**

**She walked back my way and glanced around the room. She sat down at one of the booths.**

"**This is much better than that lousy room, isn't it?" I asked as I sat beside her.**

"**Shhh." Faith put her finger over her lips as if she wanted me to be quiet. I stopped moving. "Listen."**

**I did not hear anything, but I stopped talking anyway. If something was spooking Faith, I was not interested in meeting it. I looked around the room.**

"**There is someone here," she was whispering.**

"**Why are you whispering?" I asked in a whisper this time. **

"**You don't want it to know that we are here, or that we know that it's here."**

**It? She made it sound like a monster or something. As a matter of fact, **_**I**_** did not know that anything was there, whatever anything was.**

"**Look over there," she pointed to the wall opposite the booths. At first, all that I could see was a wall. Then, things started to get creepy. I heard thumping sounds. **

"**Footsteps" Faith threw in, still in a whisper.**

**I could have figured that out. I became freezing cold. I felt similar to the way I had on the balcony earlier; but this time, my spine tingled. **

"**Can you…see him?" Faith's teeth were chattering. I was glad to say that I could not see anything still. **

**Faith slipped out of her side of the booth and fell into my side. She got close to me with her arms wrapped around her. She was cold. **

**I was oblivious to whatever she was seeing until the energy stream came back. I saw red lines forming into a figure. The figure became a full apparition this time. The only features that were not fully visible were his facial features. "Yep, I can see him."**

"**We do not want to stay around and see what he wants," Faith spoke again, louder this time. "He isn't friendly."**

"**You can tell that?" I was asking her, but she pulled me out of the booth by the hand while I was speaking.**

**We left the rest area quickly. I was not afraid of the figure, but I was cold. Leaving was a good idea. We made it back to the room without any other confrontations.**

"**Are you okay?" I asked Faith as we fell onto the bed. **

**She did not answer immediately. "I'm fine."**

"**I think we just used our powers together for the first time," I said with a smile. I was trying to cheer her up, but it did not appear to be working very well. **

"**Do you realize what this mean, Christian?" Faith was still not smiling.**

**I stared at her blankly.**

"**Mom is dying," she continued. "She told you that the more we were able to use our powers the closer she was coming to death, right?"**

**This made me silent. She was right. I had not even considered that. Even after all that had happened, I did not know what my power actually was. I just knew that it had something to do with energy. **

**Faith coughed one more chilly breath and drew closer to me. I wrapped my arms around her.**

"**Go to sleep," I whispered to her, "you have been through enough today."**

"**What if he follows us?" she asked concerned. I could tell that she was tired, but she did not want to fall asleep leaving me unprotected.**

"**I will wake you up if he does," I answered.**

"**Promise?"**

**I did not have a chance to answer. Her body went limp in my arms, and she fell asleep. I tucked her in and decided that sleep was not a bad idea for myself.**

**Faith had fallen asleep in her bath robe, and it looked really comfortable so I decided to try it myself.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Dreams and the Dark of Night**

**I turned the volume all the way down on the television and let myself fall asleep. My sleep was not exactly pleasant. I began to have vivid dreams about all that had happened to us up to this point. Recounting these events was not what made my sleep unpleasant, however.**

**In part of my dream, I was back in the visitor's area down the hall. It was not as comfortable as it had been before. The lights were out, and the room was cold. I did not have my glasses so I could barely see anything.**

**A mist began to form at my ankles. I wrapped my arms around my body to conserve body heat, but it was a lost cause. I heard footsteps similar to the ones that Faith and I had heard before. I found myself backing into the corner of the room.**

"**You are by yourself this time," I heard a low voice speak from inside the room. The voice scared me; I don't scare easily.**

**I chose not to respond to it.**

"**The girl was holding me back, but she is unable to protect you this time."**

**I could not see anyone so I listened for the sound of the voice.**

"**You cannot see me like the girl could either," the deep voice continued. It had its own form of laughter. The laughter was one of the most horrible sounds that I had ever heard. As opposed to its natural low sound, the laughter was a high-pitched like a squeal.**

**I found what I thought to be the location of the voice and turned my head in that direction.**

"**You are getting warmer," the voice growled as if annoyed by me.**

**I maneuvered my way into one of the booths and slid my body as close to the walls as possible. This may not have been the best idea because it trapped me there, but I was not thinking about making rational decisions at the moment.**

"**You cannot see me, yet you still hear me. This is very interesting. Allow me to make it easier for you."**

**The red streams of energy appeared a few feet in front of me in the same way as before. They twisted and came together to form the shape of a body. The body was very similar to the one that Faith and I had seen.**

**I could not make out any particular features aside from the figure's height. It was very tall, at least one foot taller than I was. I was convinced that the body belonged to a man.**

"**The little girl that was with you - she was your sister, correct?" The man startled me when he resumed speaking. "I can see the family resemblance."**

**I was not about to answer him. He made me feel resentment inside. I would have punched the wall if I were not so frightened.**

"**I take your silence as a yes," he growled again. "Be careful with her, boy. She is powerful. I was not even able to fully manifest myself in her presence. She resisted me."**

**Now he told me. I would have brought Faith into my dream with me if I'd known tall, dark, and creepy were going to show up.**

"**Since she is not here to stop me, allow me to show you my complete form."**

**The body of red energy began to detail. I was able to make out a head, shoulders, and a torso. Apparently, without Faith here, he could do whatever he pleased. The only visible facial features were eyes.**

**His eye sockets were empty, but in the place of eyes was red lightning. His eyes were full of rage and hate. They made me dislike him even more.**

"**Be warned, boy," he spoke again, "without your sister by your side, you will be vulnerable to others like me. I am not permitted to harm you now, but watch your step." He let out another screech-like laugh.**

**I shifted uncomfortably in the booth. The form disappeared little by little, leaving me there alone.**

**I opened my eyes, and I was once again in my bed, free from the dream. I took a deep breath and looked to my left. Faith was not in her bed.**

**I reached to turn on the lamp on the nightstand. I put on my glasses and got out of bed. **_**One step at a time**_** I told myself as my eyes readjusted themselves.**

**Faith was sitting on the balcony staring into the night sky.**

"**Dreaming I presume?" she spoke as I opened the glass door to the balcony.**

"**You really need to stop doing that," I replied.**

"**Doing what?" she spoke with a touch of sarcasm in her voice. Her fake innocence did not fool me.**

"**Never mind." Faith laughed as I sat down next to her.**

"**So tell me what **_**you**_** were dreaming about, and maybe I will be nice enough to do the same," she bargained.**

"**You had a dream?" I was surprised.**

"**Why else would I be sitting out here and not in the comfort of my bed?"**

**Good point.**

**I explained the dream to her. She did not look surprised, or impressed for that matter.**

"**That is a decent story, but I bet that I can do better," she smiled.**

"**Give me a second, and we will see what you can do."**

**I got up and went to the mini refrigerator inside the room. I found a bottle of water. Oddly enough, my throat had been dry ever since I woke up. I went back to the balcony better prepared to hear Faith's dream.**

"**So it started like this…" she began.**

**Faith's dream was similar to mine. She was back at the visitor's rest area like I was in my dream. The same spirit had approached her, but she was not limited to seeing just his energy form. She was able to see him in his entirety.**

**Faith described the spirit as an elderly man with a beard. I know, great description. I made her tell me more, and she revealed that he was wearing an older style of clothing. She was not able to specify the exact time period from whence he came. **

**The spirit was nicer to her than he had been to me. According to her, he liked her. He only asked her to show her powers to him, but she was unsure how.**

"**He confused me," she said, "his appearance told me that he was demonic, but he had no intention of harming me. He only wanted to know more about me."**

**Faith posed no threat to him as long as she was comfortable. He knew that. He was smart not to entice her. From what he told me, Faith was able to do a good bit of harm to him.**

"**Sounds to me that he likes pretty, young girls better than stuck up mean," she bragged. Ego trip anyone?**

**I did not want to rain on her parade so I let her have that one. My only answer was, "Guess you are right."**

"**Are you going back to sleep?" Faith asked.**

"**How can I? Besides, the night is peaceful. We may not have many more like this. I would feel horrible to miss the chance," I answered.**

"**We could go exploring if you want. If we run into our friend, we already know how to handle him. I am your secret weapon." Faith liked the idea of having power over someone.**

**Exploring? Yeah, right. I was perfectly fine where I was. I had to come up with an excuse though because Faith obviously wanted to go. She was a restless person.**

"**Exploring a dark hotel at…" I looked at my watch. I had not taken it off since we arrived at the hotel. "3 o'clock in the morning? No thanks."**

**Faith looked disappointed, but she knew I was right.**

"**How about you?" I asked, "going back to sleep?"**

"**Of course not. I'm not even tired. To be honest, I keep telling myself that I can learn new things about myself every second if I pay attention."**

**Her answer made me think. She was taking measures to discover the secrets of her abilities, and I was doing nothing. Maybe if I put more effort into it, I could learn something about myself as well.**

**Just then, the telephone from the room rang.**

"**Who would be calling at 3 o'clock in the morning?" Faith asked.**

"**I'm not sure, but I better answer it."**

**Who **_**would**_** be calling that early? I picked up the phone.**

"**Hello?" I asked.**

"**Christian?" I recognized the voice by its Latino qualities. Doctor Alan.**

"**Yes, it's me. What's wrong?"**

"**We just did an early checkup on your mother," his voice did not sound hopeful, "I think you need to come over here."**

"**We will be right over," I hung up the phone.**

"**Mom?" Faith knew something was wrong.**

"**Let's go." We quickly put on our clothes and left the room. **

**On the way to the elevator, I caught a strange image out of the corner of my eye. Faith stopped short behind me and looked in the same direction.**

"**We've got company," she said.**

**She was right. The spirit from the previous day and our dreams made another appearance beside the elevator. **

"**We don't have time for you right now," Faith was focused on him this time.**

"**Hear me out," he said. "This is the last time that you will see me for awhile. Be careful. Heed my warnings, and nothing bad will happen to you."**

"**Step aside," Faith spoke again, "If you haven't noticed, we have somewhere to be."**

"**Foolish child," his voice was more on edge this time. **

**He disappeared, and we proceeded to leave the hotel.**

**Doctor Alan met us outside of the Patient Building. He greeted us with a nod. **

"**Come with me," he said. His voice had a desperate tone to it.**

**I exchanged a glance with Faith, and we followed him. She did not look very hopeful either. Her eyes were bloodshot from being tired. I tried to encourage her with a smile.**

**We took the elevator with Doctor Alan up to the seventh floor. He did not speak or make eye contact with either of us the entire time. **_**That could not be a good sign**_**. I braced myself for whatever we were about to discover.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: A Letter From the Other Side**

**Doctor Alan opened the door to mom's room. I could not say that I was prepared to see what he had to show us. I was hesitant, but I looked inside regardless of my fear.**

**Mom was lying in her bed the same way that she was before. Her eyes were closed, and she was smiling. I looked her over to see if I could find anything different. From what I could see, nothing was special.**

"**What is wrong with her?" I asked, "you said that there was something to see. She is just asleep."**

"**You need to look more closely," Doctor Alan said calmly.**

**I walked to the side of mom's bed so I could see her better. Still, I was obviously missing something.**

"**I don't see anything," I said again.**

"**Don't look for it. Listen for it," Doctor Alan looked at me as he spoke.**

**I looked back at mom and leaned my head as close to her as I could. It was then that I understood what he intended for me to. She was not breathing. I gasped and backed away from her bed. Faith was still in the doorway watching nervously.**

_**Wait a second; she isn't breathing, **_**I thought to myself.**

"**Doctor Alan, do something. She isn't breathing," my voice was frantic.**

**I expected for him to rush over and begin CPR, but he did not. He stood there motionless, like a zombie.**

"**Aren't you going to do something?" I searched his face for answers as I asked. I found none.**

**He finally spoke, "There is nothing left **_**to**_** do."**

"**What!" I made my way over to him.**

"**I discovered her like this about an hour ago. The first thing that I did was CPR. I began to notice peculiar things as I studied your mother. It seems that none of Madeline's body functions are working - none except for her heart that is."**

**Her heart? Why would mom's heart continue pumping if nothing else inside of her was working with it?**

"**Christian, her body died hours ago, but her heart still beats. My colleagues and I are baffled by this medical anomaly. Her heart is not pumping blood although it maintains a steady rate."**

**I looked at him in disbelief.**

"**So… how is this-"**

"**Possible?" he finished my sentence, " I do not know. I cannot even pronounce her dead."**

**I gave him a hard look. Faith was still in the room, and she was still upset about the entire situation. I would not even allow myself to look at her, but I knew that the word **_**dead**_** did not make her feel any better.**

"**I am sorry," he realized his mistake and corrected himself.**

**There was not much for me to do so I joined my sister in the doorway. She took my hand in hers.**

"**What is going on?" she asked me quietly.**

"**I'm not exactly sure." I thought for a moment. "Come with me for a second."**

**I led her by the arm to mom's bedside. I did not expect for mom to open her eyes by some miracle like in the movies, but I was willing to try anything at that point. Having her children beside her was as good a chance to revive her as anything else.**

**Nothing happened. I went as far as putting my hands on her, and Faith did the same thing. Her body was still warm.**

**Faith's eyes began to tear up. She buried her face in my shirt. Crying was a good idea, but I told myself to be strong for Faith's sake.**

**I noticed the heart monitor on the wall. Speaking of movies, I knew how that worked too. It was beating at a normal pace. I expected for it to slow down at any moment, but it did not.**

**I looked at Doctor Alan again, but he just shrugged.**

"**Do you have any other ideas?" he asked, "my team and I have done all that we can do here."**

**Faith tugged on the shirtsleeve on my arm. I looked down at her. Her eyes were fixed on the small table next to mom's bed. My gaze followed her eyes to the table, and I noticed what had her attention.**

**On the table next to mom sat a folded piece of paper. I picked it up; and when I did, something strange happened. The heart monitor stopped its steady heartbeats and switched immediately to a continuous note which I recognized. It meant that her heart had stopped.**

**Doctor Alan hurried himself over to mom and checked her pulse.**

"**It has stopped," his Latino accent had a hint of confusion, and his expression told the same story.**

"**We can see that," Faith and I said simultaneously. **

**I looked at the note for a moment and shoved it into my back pocket. If I did not forget, I made a mental note to read it later.**

"**Looks like mom wanted to make sure we got it," Faith said pointing at my pocket.**

**She let go of my hand and kissed mom on the forehead. She had gotten her emotions under control, but not it looked as if she was ready for round two.**

**Doctor Alan pressed a button on the monitor which turned it off. I appreciated that because the sound of the steady **_**note of death, **_**as I nicknamed it, was getting on my nerves. My mind was already arguing with itself about what to do next.**

**So this was what it was like to lose your mother. Faith and I were completely alone for the first time in our lives. Mom told us to stay together, and it seemed that we did not have much of a choice now.**

"**I think that I should proceed with pronouncing -"**

"**Could you wait a second!" I cut him off this time, "we **_**are**_** still in the room, you know."**

**I did not mean to sound harsh; but at the same time, I did. He could have had the decency to let Faith and me leave before he started pronouncing anyone dead.**

**For a second, I found it amusing that his medical team had seen something that baffled them that day. Mom's willpower kept her heart beating even after her body had died. She waited for us to get the note off of the table before she fully shut down.**

**Faith and I left mom's room while Doctor Alan did his doctoring thing. We were unsure of what to do for the first time. Mom had always given us guidance and a pattern to follow. Our guidance and pattern were gone now. We were left to make our own decisions.**

"**I guess that there is no reason to stay here anymore," Faith said with her head hanging low.**

**I looked at her. Knowing that mom was gone was enough to drive her insane. She was such a brave person. The funny part was we had a lot to do in a small amount of time. I was hoping that her bravery would hold up so she could help me.**

**I looked at my watch. 4:30 a.m. Doctor Alan walked out of the room with a dejected look on his face. It made me feel guilty for snapping at him, but I chose not to mention it. I had a better question for him.**

"**Doctor Alan?" he looked at me with dread. "What time does the cafeteria at the hospital open for breakfast?"**

**Faith and Doctor Alan both looked at me with surprise. At least I woke them up.**

"**They serve snacks all night, but breakfast begins at six," he spoke so low that I could barely make out his Latino accent.**

**He walked down the hall with his clipboard in hand. I knew that I had been mean to him. The poor guy was just doing his job. I told myself that I would make it up to him later -buy him a muffin or something.**

"**Faith, what do you say to breakfast?" I asked.**

"**Breakfast? **_**Breakfast?**_** How could you be thinking about eating at a time like this? Mom just passed away five minutes ago. Have you gone insane?" Her answer was not exactly what I would call polite.**

"**Being hungry is not going to help anything. Besides, we have a note to read."**

**She gave me an odd look and rolled her eyes at me. She did not smile, but she started down the hall.**

"**Are you coming?" she asked when I did not follow.**

**We drove to the hospital and parked in the same area as before. I assumed that it would be smart to take a similar route to the one from earlier. I was right. Finding the cafeteria was a simple task the second time around. The halls were less crowded because it was so early.**

**When we reached the cafeteria, it was still a bit too early for breakfast. We were stuck with muffins and cheese which I did not complain about. Faith did not enjoy it as much as I did; she nibbled over her muffin.**

**The entire time we were sitting there, Faith would not look me in the eyes. I understood… she would have gotten upset.**

"**Aren't you going to read the note?" she asked.**

**I had almost forgotten it. Scratch that. I had not forgotten it; I was afraid of what was in it. I was not going to be able to avoid reading it with Faith around so I pulled it out of my back pocket.**

**The note was not actually a note. It was more of a full-blown letter. Mom must have gotten a pen from one of the nurses during the night. To be honest, I had never noticed how beautiful her handwriting was:**

**Dear children,**

**If you are reading this, then I have passed on. I knew that it was coming, and I felt no pain. I hope that the two of you are not having problems dealing with your abilities. I am truly sorry for not telling you about them before. I wanted to give you a chance at a normal life, but I see that I failed. Your abilities found you without any influence from me.**

**Remember to go to Carol and Chuck when you need help or advice. They have dealt with this for many years at my side. They raised Charles knowing that he was different. The two of you were raised to know right from wrong and to make reasonable decisions. You are very intelligent and will be fine together.**

**Find my diary at home. It has instructions on what to do next. I did not have the time to write them all in this letter. **

**I love both of you more that words can express. We will meet again when your journey is complete. See you in the next life! **

**Forever and Always**

**Mom.**

"**Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise." - Micah 7:8**

_**Just like mom to leave a Bible verse as a closing note. **_**I smiled.**

**When I was finished reading, Faith had a smile on her face. By telling us that she felt no pain and that she loved us, mom allowed us to let go of our sadness. I felt the same way that Faith did. I did not fear not knowing what to do next because I did know what to do.**

**Mom wanted me to take care of my sister and learn how to use my ability effectively. She wanted the best for us. She knew that she was dying, but she also knew that we were ready to take care of ourselves. She trusted us.**

"**What do you think?" I asked Faith.**

"**I think that we are going to be fine," she gave me a smile.**

**We left the cafeteria after we finished eating. Next stop, the hotel. We had to get our things before anything else. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: Peace and Quiet**

**Faith and I went back to the hotel to gather our things. We could have handled matters at the hospital first, but we both needed to get away from it as soon as possible. I hoped that this would be our last visit, at least for awhile.**

**At the hotel, we had no more encounters with spirits. Mom warned us that our abilities would intensify after she died, but we had been lucky up to that point. Maybe the spirits could sense that it was the wrong time to start bothering us. I, for one, was definitely **_**not**_** in the mood. **

**I was not angry or upset although maybe I should have been. Mom's letter reminded me of the things that she was going through. She was much better off not having to suffer.**

**Before leaving the hotel, I decided to take the time to do something important. I needed to call Aunt Carol. She was always willing to lend a helping hand whenever we needed her. I dialed her number.**

"**Hello?" her voice had a touch of anxiety. I could tell that she had been waiting for my call.**

"**Aunt Carol, it's me," I said.**

"**Christian, it is so nice to finally hear from you again," I could hear the sarcasm in her voice.**

"**I was going to call earlier, but I didn't want to wake you and Uncle Chuck up."**

"**You should not have let that stop you from calling. It is an excuse. Any new developments with Madeline, and I should be the first to know."**

**She was such a feisty person when she wanted to be. She was a year older than mom and determined not to let her age catch up to her. I remember her dying her hair for the first time. She was forty-eight years old with red hair and a short, modern haircut. To my surprise, mom approved of it.**

"**There aren't going to be any more developments, I'm afraid."**

**For the next few moments, I could have heard a pin drop. She understood that I meant mom was gone. It was as if I was transferred from Aunt Carol to a ghost or something. The silence worried me for a moment, but I gave my words time to sink in.**

"**Oh, dear," she spoke again. Her voice faltered like she did not believe me.**

**I was picturing her falling into her old rocking chair. Her eyes were probably flooded with tears. It was a depressing thought, but I was unable to pull it from my mind.**

**Mom was Aunt Carol's only sibling. They spent the better of fifty years together. Of course she would be devastated to hear of mom's passing.**

**I could hear the sound of her crying on the other line. I expected it, but I was hoping that she would be able to wait until we were finished talking. I listened for a moment giving her time to let all of her emotions out.**

"**I'm sorry, sweetheart," Aunt Carol spoke after she was calm.**

"**It's fine," I tried to sound warm and comforting, "that sounded almost like the way I felt after I found out."**

**She choked up a laugh, or what she could make of one.**

"**I called to break the bad news to you, but I had something else to ask you about as well."**

"**What is it? I will help out in any way that I can."**

**That was exactly the answer that I was hoping for.**

"**Well, obviously we don't want this death and burial thing hanging over our heads. I have thought about it, and I am sure that Faith agrees with me. We want you to manage the funeral service."**

**She waited for a moment to answer.**

"**Madeline told me that this would happen. She knew that you would not want to be responsible for burying her. I will take care of it for you. Don't worry."**

**I breathed a sigh of relief. I was glad that mom had already talked to her about it.**

"**Thank you. I will dig into mom's reserves to pay for everything. I just wasn't sure how to handle the actual service."**

"**I understand, dear. Give me the phone number to the hospital, and I will have her transferred here."**

**I gave her the number and told her that we were on our way home.**

"**It's all set," I told Faith after I got off of the phone. She gave me a nod of approval and a smile. It was nice to see her smile again.**

**We left the hotel with our things and began our journey home.**

"**Why don't you let me drive?" Faith asked as we got into the car.**

**I thought for a moment. I had almost let myself forget that she was fifteen.**

"**You have your permit?"**

"**Yes, but I was joking about the driving thing. I memorized the book, but mom and I hadn't gotten in much practice before -" her voice trailed off.**

**I searched for a distraction.**

"**Hey, I'll teach you the rest before summer is over." I extended my hand to her.**

"**It's a deal." She shook my hand.**

**The ride home was much more pleasant than the ride to the hospital had been. Faith and I turned the volume up on the radio and enjoyed some real music for a change.**

**Faith had a different taste in music than I did. I listened mostly to forms of rock, keeping very particular about what I deemed "worthy." Faith, on the other hand, enjoyed everything from rap to country to gospel. I was fine with it as long as her diversity included my music as well.**

**Seeing our house for the first time in two days was nice. Although it was messy and the grass was wild and unsightly, I recognized it as the place that I wanted to be.**

**We made our way to the front door, and we were met by a familiar face. Jack popped his head out of the dog door and smiled at us. Upon reaching the porch, he was completely out of the door, wagging his tail. **

"**Hi there, my friend," I said as I patted him on the head.**

**I let him lick my hand, and he switched from me to Faith. He tackled her to the ground; and surprisingly, she let him. Ever since she was little, Faith had avoided spending very much time with him. She was scared of him because he was so much bigger than her. She must have warmed up to him while I was away.**

**Jack licked Faith's face until she gently pushed him off of her. I started to unlock the door with my key, but it opened before I was finished.**

"**There you are!" Aunt Carol was standing at the door, arms wide. She was waiting for a hug, no doubt.**

**I hugged her first, and Faith followed suit. Uncle Chuck was sitting in the living room watching television. He gave me a wave as I walked through the room. I returned it.**

"**We came here after you called this morning," Aunt Carol continued talking as I crossed the room towards the stairs. "We wanted to give you a nice welcome home."**

"**Thank you," I said. Faith nodded in agreement with me.**

"**After you put your things away, come into the kitchen. I baked you a cake."**

**I looked at her in surprise. "You didn't have to do all that."**

"**I told her that already," Chuck chimed in.**

"**Oh, Chuck, stop being such a brat," Aunt Carol scolded him.**

**We went upstairs, and Aunt Carol followed us all the way to the top. She kept talking about how glad she was that we were home and things like that. I thought that she was going overboard, but she was glad to see us so I let her be. She tried not to sound upset about mom, but we could see it beyond her smiles. **

**I went into my room and dropped my things on the bed. Faith continued down the hall. Luckily, Aunt Carol followed her. Not trying to sound mean, but I was not in the mood for more greetings. I felt bad that Faith had to endure it a bit longer.**

**I had just sat down for a breath when they joined me.**

"**Ready for cake?"**

**I would not be able to escape that big goofy grin on Aunt Carol's face. Uncle Chuck would have complained about not getting to eat on account of me. He was the eater of the family.**

"**Sure," I said, and we went downstairs.**

**The cake was really more than I expected, but I made it out to be the best thing ever. Aunt Carol ate up every compliment that I fed her. She was extremely proud of her "welcome home" cake.**

"**Did you get up with the hospital already?" I had to get her attention off of the cake. **

"**I did actually," she replied, "they are transporting Madeline to Memories tomorrow."**

**Memories was a local funeral home. Our family, in particular, used it often. Talking about it now was a mood changer for sure, but it was going to come up eventually.**

"**She wanted to be buried here," she continued, "in our little family cemetery."**

**I nodded my head as she spoke. Faith kept quiet across the table. She lost interest in her cake all of a sudden.**

"**So who wants seconds?" Chuck fixed the issue. I could always count on him to make me smile.**

**He got another piece, but Faith and I decided against it. Aunt Carol put the rest of it in the refrigerator for later. I put my hand under the table so Jack could lick some of the icing. Mom hated it when I did that. It was one of our little secrets.**

**I remembered something important at that moment. When dinner was over, I went upstairs to mom's room. It looked empty without her in it. I searched under her pillow for her diary and was successful in my search. **

**Her diary was an old-looking notebook. A regular notebook with regular notebook paper. Definitely sounded like mom to me. I took it with me to my room and dropped it on the dresser.**

**I opened my dresser and found another useful piece of information. All of my old clothes were still there. Aside from a little dust, they were in good condition. Thank goodness mom kept them for me. That saved me a trip back to the apartment to get clothes.**

**I figured that I might as well wait until night to read in the diary. I left it on my dresser and joined everyone else in the living room.**

"**The grass is really getting out of hand," I mentioned, "I could cut it tomorrow."**

"**Don't bother yourself with that," Aunt Carol replied, "you two just got back. There are more important things to do." **

"**The boy's got a point," Uncle Chuck said. This was the quality that I did not like much about him - his laziness. He was definitely **_**not**_** going to do any work around there.**

"**Chuck, leave them alone tonight," Aunt Carol took up for us again. "Let them rest before you start giving them jobs."**

**I mouthed her a thank-you, and she winked at me. We sat together, quietly staring at the fire. **

**When I went back upstairs to my room, I found Faith sitting on my bed. She was reading the diary. I joined her.**

"**It's really interesting," she said, "it has things about mom's life as well as spiritualistic people in general."**

"**And what part have you been studying, if I may ask?"**

"**Mom's life. I left the complicated stuff for you. I am not interested in it anyway."**

"**You are the scholar. You should have memorized all of the complicated stuff by now," I gave her a smile. **

"**I'm not a scholar," she laughed and shoved me.**

**I replied by wrapping my arms around her and squeezing her.**

"**You are so unfair," she said with a smile, "you think that you can bully me because you are bigger."**

"**I can," I laughed.**

**She handed the diary to me and started out of my door.**

"**Don't get too wrapped up in it," she said, "try to sleep some. We have a big week ahead of us."**

"**I know," I replied, "goodnight, Faith."**

"**Goodnight."**

**I was alone once again.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: The Things That Came After**

**Mom's diary was eighty percent her life story and twenty percent useful information. I skipped over the life story part. It was not that I was uninterested in it, but it would have taken awhile to read through two hundred pages of that first.**

**The second half of the diary I labeled as "useful information," because that was what it was. I came up with the bright idea of making copies of the pages that I needed to save time. The obvious choices were the phone numbers, instructions on what to do next, and the huge family tree model.**

_**Huge?**_** I did not know that we had that many members in our family, but obviously we did.**

**I did not take the time to read it immediately. I went for the copier. It was linked to mom's laptop and still fully functional.**_** Lucky me.**_

**I made copies of about seven pages, all containing the most useful information. I brushed mom's diary aside for a moment so I could check into the information that I copied. I made myself comfortable in her bed. It was strange being in her bed without her. It was the first time that I had ever been there by myself.**

**I did not recognize very many of the names that came with the phone numbers. One of my old school friends made the list as well as a couple of Faith's friends. I must have been being lazy while mom was making friends.**

**The instructions were fairly simple. In them, Mom mentioned a cousin from Arizona who promised her that he would "oversee us" while we learned to use our abilities. Aside from being careful and making sure that Faith stayed in school, my job was easy. Aunt Carol and Uncle Chuck had promised to look after the house for her, but I was determined to stay and help them as long as they needed me. I owed them that much.**

**The guy from Arizona's name was Larry Hoff. I was unable to find a picture of him, but a picture was not really important anyway. That was just me hoping to make the study session more colorful.**

**Larry was mom's age with one child of his own. The diary did not give information about the child, but it **_**did**_** tell a little about his wife. Her name was Elizabeth, and she was younger than him.**

_**Not much to go by, but thanks for trying, Mom.**_

**Larry and his wife were on the family tree model that mom had drawn. It was not the best drawing ever, but I could not blame mom for that. She did not have an artistic bone in her body. She probably traced it off of an internet article about family trees or something.**

**Faith had been pretty engrossed by the diary before, but she was more interested in the story. I decided to let her have it so she could read it whenever she liked. She was the reader of our family anyway.**

**Faith loved mom to death. She was obviously upset when mom died. I had been gone for a few months so I assumed that they had become close during that time period. **

**I quietly made my way down the hall into Faith's room, and left the diary beside her bed. It was too dark to see her face, but I thought that I could make out the shape of a smile. **_**Rest peacefully, sister **_**I thought to myself. I gave her a kiss on the cheek and left her to sleep.**

**My room was the same way that it had been for twenty years. My curtains were a dark purple color, and my bed was medium-sized. The quilt on the bed was hand-stitched by my mother when I was very young. It had purple colors to match the curtains. **

**I felt around in my wardrobe and found some pajamas. They were soft and comfortable and gave me a sudden urge to get into bed and fall asleep. I did just that after I was changed into them. **

**I was sleeping pretty well until I woke up. My vision was blurred for a moment, but I looked at my alarm clock when I was able to see more clearly. 3:00 a.m. My throat was dry so I made my way downstairs to get some water from the refrigerator. **

**Getting downstairs was not as easy as I would have liked for it to be. I stumbled around like a drunk person. The major issue was I had forgotten to put on my glasses, not that seeing in the dark would be possible for me anyway. The light of the refrigerator in the kitchen helped me at the base of the stairs.**

**I should not have been able to see light with the door of the refrigerator closed, but the door was open. I walked into the kitchen cautiously, avoiding sharp objects at any cost. Knives, scissors, and paper were never my friends, and I was fairly sure that things like that were lying around. **

**I looked for Aunt Carol or Uncle Chuck, figuring that one of them was awake and needing a late-night snack. I did not see anyone. **

_**This looks vaguely familiar.**_

**I knew what to look for then. I searched for an energy stream like the ones from before. I would have been relieved to find one right away. I had a weak stomach, and I was not fond of surprises. Then again, some spirits are mischievous. I was going to have to get used to different types of them. **

**One good example of mischievous spirits was the ones that Faith used to spend time with. They certainly did not like me very much, maybe because I knew of their existence. That gave me an idea of what was going on.**

"**I know who you are," I spoke quietly, "you are the same spirits who my sister used to play with."**

**No response. I tried again.**

"**Don't play with me anymore. Just show yourselves to me with your energy."**

**Everything remained quiet, but the air around me grew thicker. **

"**It isn't energy."**

**That made me jump.**

**I looked to my right and saw Faith standing beside me. She was wiping her eyes with her hands. I gave her one of my confused looks.**

"**They are right in front of you. They chose not to show themselves to you. They told me to tell you that it isn't energy that you are seeing."**

"**Then what is it?" I asked.**

"**Don't ask me. I haven't gotten to that part in the diary yet. Speaking of, thanks for leaving it for me to read."**

**Interestingly enough, the spirits did not scare me in the least bit. Faith was near me so they would not do anything out of hand. Besides, the worst crime that they ever committed was getting my arm broken. No big deal. Okay, maybe I should have been somewhat afraid of them. **

"**So… what do they want, Faith?" **

"**They live here. They were helping you because you could not see."**

_**Sure**_**. **_**Helping me.**_

"**Go ahead and get something to drink so you can get back to sleep." Her words were calm. **

"**And you?"**

"**I'm doing the same thing that you are - getting a drink."**

**She pulled a canned drink from a shelf inside the refrigerator and back away. I must have looked smart staring at her the way that I was. **

"**What?" she asked. I stopped staring.**

**I followed suit and got a drink. **

"**You're amazing," I smiled at her.**

"**I deal with this everyday. It feels normal to me to talk with spirits. I'm just not used to seeing them other places. These two are the only ones that I consider friendly."**

**I patted her on the head and went back upstairs. I sipped on my drink while I looked up at the ceiling from my bed. It was cool in a way to be able to do the things that my sister and I could do, but it was scary as well. I was eager to learn more and get better at it, but I was cautious at the same time.**

**I took off my glasses and put my empty can on the nightstand beside me. It was maybe five minutes, and I was asleep again - this time, for good.**

**I awoke the next morning refreshed, finally. A good, full night of sleep had been evading me for awhile. I was the second one up, only bested by Aunt Carol.**

**She was always the first one up in our family. She cooked breakfast for mom most of the time so she woke up before us to come over and begin preparing it. I met her in the kitchen where I found her cooking as I had suspected. **

"**Good morning," she said when she first saw me.**

"**Good morning," I replied with a yawn.**

"**I have good news," she spoke as I sat down at the table. "I have the funeral arrangements finished. The hospital is sending Madeline to Memories today, and we can get this thing over with tomorrow."**

"**Excellent," I said. **

**I took a sip of coffee from one of the four cups sitting on the table.**

**Aunt Carol was good about things like that. She was the most organized person that I had ever met. She would have breakfast completely finished by the time Faith and Uncle Chuck were up. **

**Speaking of, Faith made her way downstairs, yawning with her arms stretched into the air. She sat next to me and leaned her head on my shoulder.**

"**I'm still tired," she said with another yawn.**

**I laughed at her.**

"**You can go back to bed after you eat," Aunt Carol spoke to her, "you need to eat, though. You are nothing but skin and bones. I am going to put some meat on you while we are here."**

"**Aunt Carol," Faith moaned a complaint, "I'm perfectly fine."**

**Aunt Carol winked at me and tossed a pancake out of the frying pan into the air. "You are still going to eat."**

**Uncle Chuck took the most time getting out of bed. **_**Of course**_**. He was as lazy as he had ever been. Faith got her morning-sluggishness from him. She moaned and groaned of a morning because she wanted to sleep until noon everyday. School days were the worst on her.**

**Faith pulled her white-blond hair out of the ponytail that she had it in the night before and it fell all over me. **

"**Don't start, Christian," she said when she noticed me looking at her, "I am going to brush it later."**

"**I didn't say anything," I replied. **

**I annoyed her by playing with her hair to the point that she stopped leaning on me. That was one of my favorite tricks with Faith. She was irritable of a morning so I could get her to leave me alone by messing with her. I rarely ever did, though. I just wanted her to start using manners while we had guests over.**

**Uncle Chuck reached the kitchen table about a half-hour after Faith did. Aunt Carol scolded him for not being on time, but it did not appear to have much affect. We were patient enough for him, but she was not.**

"**Time to eat," he wailed happily.**

"**Not yet," Aunt Carol replied while waving her index finger in the air, "we have one more guest coming for breakfast."**

**I did not understand what she meant until Jack pranced into the room. He sat down on the floor at her feet, and panted with a goofy grin on his face.**

"**That's more like it," she spoke again while patting him on the head.**

"**I get in here, and you talk to me like I am a dog; the dog gets in here, and you pat him on the head?" Uncle Chuck had impatience in his voice.**

"**Pretty much!" Aunt Carol clasped her hands together and laughed.**

**We ate together and forgot about the rest of the world for a few minutes. We all missed mom and wished that she could have been present at that meal, but we were happy that she had finally gotten where she wanted to be. No one seemed mournful about her passing. The meal was more about reverence than sorrow.**

**A good breakfast was the best way to start the day. I remembered that it was summertime, and instantly became satisfied. Even though we had a funeral service to deal with the next day, I planned on enjoying the one that I was on. **

**Faith went back upstairs, but she did not go to sleep. She started reading in the diary. I knew that she would be eager to get into it. I went outside for fresh air.**

**Jack followed me out; and for the first time since we got back, the backyard did not look completely horrible to me. The grass was overgrown, but everything else was decent. It reminded me of a nature hike. **

**Jack jumped into one of the wooden chairs on the back porch and curled up. He loved to nap in our chairs during the summer. I was not very tired, but watching him was making me a little dreary. I had to leave him alone so I could go exploring.**

**My destination : the special pond behind our house. I had not been back there in it seemed like forever. I was careful to watch for ants and snakes while walking along the path. Other creatures could be aggravating too, but those, in particular, were bothersome to me. **

**The pond was about the same as it was before. The water was mucky. I did not go too far into the water because I was not sure what kinds of creatures inhabited it. I found a spot close to it where the grass was not completely out of control and sat. **

**The scenery was nice. I was hoping that Faith's spirit friends would show up and try to annoy me while I enjoyed it. I wanted to find out more about them and what they meant when they said that I was not seeing energy. They would not be able to communicate with me without Faith there, but they could at least give me a clue or something.**

**I waited for most of the morning, but I did not have any choice meetings. The only thing that shared the view of the pond with me was a dragonfly, unfortunately. I did not let that bother me. The spirits would have to show up sometime to continue their onslaught on me. **

**I brushed my pants off and left the pond after I became bored with waiting. Back at the house, Jack had rotated from the chair to the porch floor. Faith was reading in her room, and Aunt Carol and Uncle Chuck were watching television in the living room. **

**We wasted the rest of the day waiting on the call from Memories about mom. **


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10 : Purple - The Color of Life**

**Of a few things in life one can be certain. Death is one of the things that we may be certain about. Every person dies so do not let it surprise you.**

**The call from Memories came in the evening. They had mom's body and were prepared to perform the service for us whenever we wanted. We were all in agreement to get it over with as soon as possible so we scheduled it for the next day.**

**Although the traditional funeral service was held at church, we decided to make it private and do it by ourselves at the funeral home. Mom recommended doing it that way in her diary so our powers would not catch anyone's attention if they accidentally sparked. It was smart. A place with dead bodies and restless spiritual energy would definitely be a hot spot for our powers.**

**I, for one, was completely satisfied with the way our arrangement worked out. Faith did not say anything about it, but she was obviously relieved to be getting it over with. She asked me to stay awake with her until she fell asleep that night.**

**After Faith was asleep, I went back to my room to get some rest of my own. The past few days had been stressful to say the least. My room looked particularly dark that night, comforting in it's own strange way.**

**I stared at the ceiling counting sheep in my mind, but I knew that it would do me no good. Sleep was not going to be possible with so many things on it. I did not want to go downstairs either. There was no telling who **_**or what **_**would show up to greet me.**

**Somehow, I finally fell asleep. Maybe my body was too tired to not go to sleep. I was satisfied for whatever reason it happened.**

**The morning was welcomed by Aunt Carol's deluxe breakfast. She cooked more than normal, not that this would be a day to commemorate. We all ate and prepared for the time ahead of us. **

**Aunt Carol told the associate from Memories on the phone that we would be there at one o'clock. That would be plenty of time to prepare. **

**I spent the morning on the back porch, watching the light of the sun and the affect it had on the sky. I had never watched this strange occurrence before, but I recommend it to anyone with nothing to do. It was very enlightening. **

**The sky could do strange things under the correct influence. The sun's light colored the clouds with bright orange, yellow, and red colors. I was amazed by this. You could never really understand the grandiose of the heavens until you watched it in action.**

**Faith joined me after a few minutes. She had not gotten dressed yet either, but we had plenty of time to do that. She caught onto my drift and began to stare at the sky with me.**

"**It's cool; isn't it?" she asked after a moment.**

"**Yes, I have never noticed all of the colors."**

"**Well, light is made of all of the colors of the spectrum, you know. The colors are just best illustrated when being put on a palette."**

"**The palette being the clouds, right?"**

"**Yes, that is the idea," she let her gaze drop from the sky and flashed me a smile.**

"**Where did you learn that?"**

"**The spectrum part we studied in school. The cloud as a palette part I came up with myself."**

**It was a good concept. My sister was more inventive than I gave her credit for. **

**She leaned her head back and fell asleep in the porch chair. She needed a nap apparently so I left her in peace. Upon getting up to go back inside, I felt a headache coming on.**

**The best cure for a headache - Tylenol. I went to the medicine cabinet. I scanned the shelves for anything headache-related. We were clean out of Tylenol, but I took some convenience store brand pill that was supposed to be for a headache. **

**I figured that there would be no instant cure so I went to the living room and propped myself up in the comfortable rocking chair. I stayed still for an hour, but the pain did not go away. I even tried massaging my forehead with my hands, but it did not relieve the pressure as I had hoped it would.**

"**Headache?"**

**I opened my eyes and found Faith standing across the room looking at me. How did she always know what was wrong?**

"**Yes, it started a little while ago. I took something for it," I answered.**

"**Me too. That's why I went outside. I thought a nap would ease my mind, but that must not have anything to do with it. You might as well not try that."**

"**Thanks for the insight."**

**She left the room and headed for the stairs.**

"**I am going to get ready. You should do the same. It's almost noon."**

**Lucky she said that. My headache had almost caused me to forget about the service.**

**I followed her upstairs and went into my room. I found an old, black, dressy suit in my wardrobe. Luckily, it still fit me. I wet my hair and combed it away from my face. I usually let my hair go wild and unruly, but this was definitely a good time for a more sophisticated style. **

**I got bored waiting around in my room for everyone else so I went to check on Faith. She was powdering her face with some type of make-up. She really did not need to. She was pretty enough without it, but she had a self-confidence issue so it was probably for the better if I did not tell her that. She was wearing a purple dress, and she had her hair pulled up into a ball. The white ball reminded me of a bunny rabbit tail in a way.**

"**Looking good," I startled her because she jumped when I spoke.**

"**Thanks," she was hiding her surprise.**

"**Mom would say the same thing that I did."**

"**Thanks," she replied again, "but I am not competing in a beauty contest."**

**Could have fooled me with all of that make-up.**

**Faith rolled her eyes at me, but I noticed her start to smile as she turned back towards the mirror. She grabbed her purse and walked past me on the way out the door. I turned off the light in her room and followed her out.**

**If Faith was going out of her way to look good for mom, then what Aunt Carol was doing was plain ridiculous. She had gone out of her way to look like a circus act. Of course, I was not about to comment on her look. She must have assumed that she looked good; and maybe in some world, she did. I could not say the same for Uncle Chuck. He had not even tucked in his shirt until Aunt Carol yelled at him to do so.**

**Again, some things never change. We all stuffed ourselves together into the tight fit of mom's Focus and left home. **

**The drive was short. Memories was only a few miles from home, thank goodness. The tension in that car was as thick as I block of ice. We were not angry or upset at one another, but we were all hoping to get the day behind us. **

**I am not going to lie; the place was small compared to what I expected. I was not so much disappointed as I was surprised. After all of the great things I had heard about Memories, I had not suspected it to be smaller than our house.**

**We made our way under some low-lying trees on a tile path to the front door. I opened it and held it for everyone else. Only Faith showed any appreciation, and hers was only a smile and a nod.**

**We made our observations as we walked through the front door. Although it was small, it was a nice, cozy place. The temperature was moderate, and I could tell that the air was clean because it smelled like the hospital. **

**Only one associate was working at the desk. She and Aunt Carol talked about our visit while I continued to look the lobby over. The carpet was red, and it looked as if it had just been cleaned recently. The paint on the walls looked fresh. To be a funeral home, Memories was certainly a comforting stay so far. This was my first trip; and it was the most inviting one I had been to in awhile. **

**Aunt Carol settled things with the woman at the desk and led us down the hallway to our own private room. The hallway was as clean as the lobby had been. I assumed that they made it that way **_**because**_** it was a funeral home. Everything was designed to be inviting. **

**My headache had eased off while we were riding in the car, but it began to come back while walking down the hallway. Faith was squinting her eyes as she walked so she was having the same problem. She was just better at hiding it. **

**I could tell that it was intensifying as we got closer to the end of the hallway. My eyesight was becoming blurred, but I told myself that I would put up with it until our stay was over. **

**The room was small, but everything at the place **_**was**_** so I could not complain. A coffin sat uncovered in the center of it. I could barely make out any details about it except for the color because of my headache. The coffin was dark blue and wrapped in a black velvet quilt. **

**We approached it as a group, and Faith took my hand upon getting close to it. I was not sure if it was because of the headache or sheer nervousness. Either way, I was satisfied. I was dealing with both.**

**Inside the coffin, mom was dressed in a beautiful pink dress, which Aunt Carol had picked out for her. At least she had good enough taste to dress mom properly. She was wearing a white shade of make-up. To be honest, it made her look…dead. **

"**I don't think that we should say anything here," Aunt Carol spoke, "we can wait until we get to the cemetery so we can have our own private moment with her."**

_**Good idea**_** I thought to myself. Mom would have wanted each of us say our goodbyes privately. It was only fitting.**

**We looked her over for a moment before going back to the front desk and talking to the receptionist again. She told us to head for the cemetery, and she would send for some transportation of the coffin.**

**She did what she said that she would do. By the time we reached the cemetery around the corner, the hearse was making its rounds. It met us at the front gate where we parked. **

**The four of us made our way into the gates, my headache was splittingly dreadful there; and four young men carried the coffin. They led us to a hole that was just the perfect size for a coffin. **

**The men were very careful as they lowered the coffin into its hole. They covered it with dirt in an old-fashioned way - by hand. **

"**Do you need anything else?" one of the men who must have been the supervisor of the others asked.**

"**No thank you," Aunt Carol replied, "we will take it from here."**

**They left in their fancy hearse while we watched from inside the cemetery. After we were completely alone, the awkwardness began. None of us were sure of what to say. Aunt Carol got the message and led Uncle Chuck away by hand. Faith and I were alone with our mother for the last time, or so I thought.**

**Our goodbyes were simple; we both cried. Understandable, I was sure. Even if it wasn't, it was the only thing that I wanted to do. We stood together and held hands like that for awhile. I even forgot that I had a headache.**

"**We should come back later," Faith spoke.**

**I looked at her, somewhat confused.**

"**The headache is worse. We can learn something from being here. I can feel it."**

**Of course, she was not talking about mom. Silly me.**

"**Even if you are right, would it be worth it?" I asked.**

"**Yes. Besides, we can properly say goodbye to mom if we come back."**

**Fair enough. That made enough sense to convince me that it was a good idea.**

**She led me away so Aunt Carol and Uncle Chuck could say their goodbyes. We left with our aunt and uncle under the impression that we were satisfied.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: How Deep Is a Six-Foot Hole? **

**We were conflicted with how to do it. Would it have been better to tell Aunt Carol and Uncle Chuck about our plans or to just sneak out without their knowing? My mischievous side convinced me to sneak out.**

**The sneaking out part was not the challenge, oddly enough. The challenge was making preparation and knowing what to take with us. Seriously, how can one prepare to visit a cemetery where his deceased mother was buried?**

"**By taking Tylenol," Faith answered the question that I was asking in my mind.**

"**You can be very scary when you want to be," I whispered to her.**

"**I know. It is just another of my innumerable talents," she bragged.**

"**Right. Anything else that you recommend for the trip?"**

"**Flashlights wouldn't hurt."**

"**Good thinking."**

**We checked our watches for the time. We decided to actually keep up with it this time because our guests would not be asleep forever. It was 3:00 a.m.**

"**Are you ready?" I asked Faith.**

**She responded by turning on her flashlight, shining the light on herself from under her chin. It reflected off of her in a creepy way.**

"**It is a good thing that we aren't vampires as well as spiritualists; isn't it?" she joked.**

"**Spiritualists? You gave it a name?"**

"**Mom called it that in the diary. It sounded catchy to me."**

**Catchy. Right.**

"**Perfect." I rolled my eyes, but it was too dark for her to see me do it.**

**We tiptoed down the stairs, trying our best not to wake the folks. Luckily, they were sound asleep. Unluckily, to preserve our flashlight batteries, we did not use the flashlights.**

**I was doing fine until I hit my side at the bottom of the stairwell. Faith mocked my collision with a giggle.**

**We finally made it outside. We stopped to take a breath but quickly realized that we were not completely out of the line of fire. The faithful family pet Jack was our final obstacle. We must have accidentally woken him up upon getting out of the front door. Jack's dog house was at the corner of the porch, and he had excellent hearing so I would not have put it past him.**

**Jack stood eyes wide and tail wagging at my feet. I gave Faith an awkward look, and she answered it ever so helpfully with a shrug.**

"**You can handle this one, big brother," she winked and walked towards the car. **

**She would not have been so smug if it had been her who Jack had approached first.**

**Jack paid her no attention. Instead, he stood on his hind legs and balanced himself against my torso. I was willing to do whatever he wanted as long as he did not start barking.**

**I tried petting his head, but that only made him more eager to play. I thought for a moment and devised the solution of shifting my weight on him. I was successful in getting him back on all fours by doing this. He somehow understood my urgency and let me leave.**

"**Thanks, buddy," I scratched Jack behind the ear as I whispered my approval of his actions.**

**I made my way to the car and Faith "praised" my timing.**

"**Not too bad," she smirked as I cranked it.**

**All of our hindrances aside, we were able to leave home at 3:14 a.m.**

**I took a Tylenol on the way to the cemetery. I knew it would not help, but I tried it anyway. Faith chose not to take one because she claimed to have some mild phobia of medicine. That sounded exactly like something she would claim to have.**

**We activated our flashlights at the gate. The light of the moon proved helpful, but I was not feeling lucky enough to rely on it alone. I was quivering as I aimed it at the murky corners of the gravesite. **

**To be honest, I was not sure what to expect. Our powers had not proven as influential as mom had warned us that they would. Still, I was careful as I walked along the path, passing tombstones as I went. I checked my side regularly to make sure Faith was still beside me. Having her next to me made me feel better because I knew that she could stop angry spirits from attacking us…somehow.**

**I stopped dead in my tracks a few yards in upon noticing something. The Tylenol was working. I could tell because I had not had a headache since we arrived. Faith paused right behind me.**

"**What's wrong?" she asked. **

"**Is your head hurting?" I asked without answering her question.**

"**No, why?"**

"**Neither is mine. I haven't had a headache since we got here. Have you?"**

"**Come to think of it, no, I haven't," she answered. She did not sound very satisfied.**

**I continued on the path, still being very apprehensive with my flashlight. I began to notice the other sounds of night as I walked. I heard owls, raccoons, and other creatures but no people. I was happy to an extent, but the entire point of coming back was **_**to**_** hear things out of the ordinary. **

**Out of nowhere, as if an answer to my complaint, I heard a moaning sound. I stopped once again, but Faith did not as she had before. She instead went toward the sound. I did not try to stop her.**

**Whoever or whatever it was, it was covered by the dark of night. I was being patient and aiming my light at where I assumed the voice was coming from, but I was unable to locate it. As time passed, the moaning grew higher in pitch until it became like the voice of a little girl. She was not moaning; she was screaming.**

**Faith and I continued, moving slowly in an attempt to locate her. Our attempts were futile because the girl's voice was coming from all directions. A cemetery was not the best place for a search mission, but I was determined.**

**I was finally able to put a lock down on her location while we stood under a tree. The canopy of the tree blocked the sound of her voice in so we could hear it more easily. I told Faith to walk ahead of me because she would be able to see her when I could not. She went ahead of me, but she did so tentatively. I had never seen her that careful.**

**Faith stopped about five feet from a tombstone and held her hand out as a motion for me to stop moving. I did as she signaled, and she beamed the light of her flashlight at the backside of the tombstone. I heard the girl's voice for what it was, and I noticed that she was crying. **

"**Is she there?" I asked Faith.**

"**Yes, and she is pitiful," she answered, "she is only a kid."**

**Faith turned her attention to the spirit. As she curved around to the other side of the tombstone, I was able to see the strange "energy" emanating from the girl. I knew that it was not energy, but I had not come up with a new name for it.**

**The girl's figure was small. She must have been no more than five or six years old. I wondered why I could hear her cries but not her voice. I added it to the list of unsolved mysteries that I had been collecting since we left the hospital. **

"**Are you here alone?" Faith spoke to the girl.**

**She continued a back and forth conversation with her briefly before turning back to me to tell me what she had learned.**

"**She is six years old, and her mother left her for dead," she began, "she died because she took pills that she found on their kitchen table."**

"**Why is she telling you all of this?" I asked, "she doesn't even know you."**

"**Because she has been waiting for help for a long time. She died in 1946."**

**I stopped asking questions. Pretty much nothing made sense to me at the time so there would be no point in trying to figure everything out.**

"**Well, ask her for her name," I began again, "if we are going to help her, we need to know something about her."**

**She focused her attention on the girl again and was quiet for a moment. I began to get anxious while I waited on her. **

**When Faith turned back towards me, she did not speak. Her eyes dropped to the ground, and she had a look of helplessness on her face.**

"**Spit it out, Faith," I enticed.**

**She still did not answer so I moved closer to her and put my hands on her shoulders.**

"**What did she tell you?" I asked more gently that time.**

"**She is a Sharp, Christian. She is related to us."**

**I was officially freaked out. A Sharp? Did that make her a cousin or something? I let go of Faith and walked around to the front of the tombstone. Sure enough, the name on the tombstone was Katie Sharp, deceased December 23, 1946. **

"**Mom never mentioned a Katie," I spoke to Faith.**

"**She didn't mention anyone from our family tree, but that doesn't mean that they didn't exist." Her voice was cold as if she had come to a startling revelation.**

**Faith began talking with the girl again. She kept her voice quiet. She did not want to scare her. She told me their conversation when she was finished talking to her.**

"**She wants to make a deal," she said.**

"**What kind of deal?" I asked reluctantly.**

"**It's one of those **_**you help me, I help you**_** things."**

"**Sounds like it would be better than nothing at all. What does she want from us?"**

"**She says that if we can help her pass on a message to her family, then she can help us find the answers that we came here for."**

**That was the best news that I had heard all day. To me, it sounded as if Katie was getting the short end of the stick in the deal, but it would be the last thing that she needed to pass on. If she would be satisfied with that, then so would we.**

"**It's a deal," I said.**

**Faith told Katie that we had accepted her deal, and she started walking again.**

"**How do we pass on the message?" I asked when she was at my side.**

"**We don't. She does. She is coming with us."**

_**Great. At least this guest would not take up space and be easy to hide.**_

**Faith turned to me with a look of surprise, "She heard that. She was a mind reader. Keep your thoughts to yourself."**

"**Sorry," I replied.**

**There was one more thing to take care of while we were there - saying a proper goodbye to our mother. It could have been just as satisfying to do it while we were with Aunt Carol and Uncle Chuck, but it did not feel right. Of that, Faith and I were in agreement.**

**Faith played with Katie while we walked. Mom's tombstone was at the foot of a hill in the center of the cemetery so we had a bit of a walk to go before we reached it. Faith seemed to be getting along with her; and in a way, I was jealous of them. She could see and talk to spirits, but I was unable to communicate with them at all.**

**Faith spoke again a few yards after leaving Katie's grave, "It is really enlightening; you know. Talking to a spirit makes learning about them easier than reading a book does."**

"**Good. Try to take in as much as you can because we will need to know as much about them as possible."**

"**She says that she has family in town. Her brother had children who had children and so on. The people are related to her in some way, and she wants them to know how she died."**

"**That's it? It doesn't seem like much to ask for a trapped soul."**

"**She is five, Christian. What else could she ask for?"**

**It was a good point, but we had a lot more to gain than Katie did. By finding her relatives, we could learn more about **_**our **_**family because her family **_**was**_** our family. **

**We arrived at mom's grave more quickly than I had expected. The walk was not as bad as I thought it would be. Three was better than two. We were more solid as a group, even though I could not see one of our members.**

**I would forever remember that day. We did not cry like we had the first time. Instead, we stood silently, in reverence of our mom. We would be missing her guidance. **

"**We will have to come back every year on this day," I told Faith.**

"**Agreed. She deserves at least that."**

**I looked at Faith, and she looked content. I felt the same way. We could rest easily knowing that we did the right thing and paid mom our respects. We did it together, and she would be proud of us for that. **

"**Check the time," Faith said, "how did we do?"**

"**Not bad, actually. It is only 4:30." I smiled at her. "We got a lot accomplished and made a new friend in the process."**

"**By the way, Katie said that she likes you."**

**I was starting to take a liking to the little kid, whatever she looked like.**

"**I guess it is about time that we got going then," I said after taking a deep breath.**

"**Back home?" Faith asked.**

"**Back home," I answered.**

**We made our way back to the car, little spirit in tact, and drove home.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: We Made Studying Fun**

**Faith and I had a new member on our team. She was even easy to hide from our aunt and uncle. We made it back to the house and slept soundly until morning. We were becoming quite the escape artists, not that that was something I would usually be proud of.**

**Faith and I slept, and Katie was left to roam the house. I felt bad for her along with all of the other spirits out there. Supposing that they did not sleep, I wondered if that left them tired all of the time. Even if not, never sleeping would mean staying up twenty-four hours a day. That must have been torture. At least since it was her first night visiting with us, she had plenty to explore.**

**First thing the next morning, I asked Faith to find her and make sure she was safe. She was able to round her up quickly because she was sitting on the porch like I was usually do.**

"**How did she do?" I asked.**

"**She seems to be fine; she knows the property well now, and she didn't run into any other spirits."**

"**Excellent."**

**We had a hard time at breakfast. Keeping Aunt Carol and Uncle Chuck from being suspicious was not the easiest mission ever. We were more tired that ever before so we had to hide the dark circles around our eyes. Although we looked like trash, we must have been decent actors. Neither of them questioned us.**

**Aunt Carol caught my attention when she **_**did**_** ask a question, "What are your plans for today, dear?"**

**Good question. I had not really thought about it. All I knew was Faith and I were going to help Katie find her family, and she was going to help us get used to our new life. Not that we would ever be used to it.**

"**I'm not sure, but we will find something to do," I answered, trying to hide the shakiness in my voice.**

**We left the table completely relieved and went back upstairs to contemplate the question that I had left myself with.**

"**What **_**are **_**we going to do today?" I asked Faith. I was hoping that she had it mapped out already in her head. That was the Faith thing to do.**

**I jinxed myself. She gave me one of those **_**that's your job**_** looks. The one time that I needed her to be the boss and tell me what to do, she decided to be lazy.**

"**The way I see it is," she began in her drama-queen tone, "we will have to do one of the two things on our agenda. I say we help Katie first. We can give her some peace within herself."**

"**But what if she disappears into the afterlife without being able to help us first?" I pointed out.**

"**We may have to take that chance…" before she could continue, Faith looked over her shoulder and began a conversation with the subject herself. They talked for a moment before Faith clued me in on what they decided.**

"**What did she say?" I asked when they were finished.**

"**She recommends helping us first. It's your fault, Christian. She likes you so she is trying to do what she thinks you want her to do."**

"**It isn't my fault. I didn't make her do anything."**

**She rolled her eyes at me. Sometimes that girl could really get on my nerves.**

"**I could really care less if our friend has a crush on you, but she should really be more careful when choosing role models."**

**Katie told her that the best place to start if we wanted to become more familiar with spirits would be the library. I know, right. You would never think to look there, but it made sense when I wrapped my mind around it. The internet seemed a better solution, but Katie was a book fanatic so we decided that a road trip would not hurt anyone.**

**It was interesting to find out that Katie liked books. She seemed a little young to be a reader until I remembered that she was a spirit. She had been wandering alone for a long time. That obviously gave her plenty of time to visit a library. The other thing to question would be her method of reading books. I had Faith ask her.**

**She enlightened me with a straight answer. Katie was a listener. She liked to sit and listen to others reading stories. This gave her something of an education as well. She picked up a level of knowledge higher than other girls her age just from listening to people for years. It made me think about the nature of spirits in general. They were not only menacing forces that haunted empty buildings but had a life of their own.**

**I told Aunt Carol where we were headed, and she soaked it up like a sponge. It was not a lie, yet I felt bad about going behind her back. If I told her that Faith and I had a spirit in tact with us, she would have had a cow. A simple trip to the library was all that she needed to be aware of.**

**Katie was a great backseat driver. She did not make any of the out of the way comments that I was used to. Still, I was not able to avoid comments. I had another passenger entertaining me.**

"**Is this as fast as you go? Mom used to drive fifty on these old roads. No one is going to see you anyway," my comrade was "helping me."**

**I ignored her. The library was a short fifteen minute ride anyway so I knew I would not have to put up with it for very long. I listened to the radio, and time flew like the beautiful birds outside the car window.**

**I had not been to the old library since I was about seven years old. The internet was more convenient for a twenty-three year old, college-bound person. Go figure. On the bright side, it was a nice library for our small town set-up.**

**The yard was decorated with vines and flowers and even a bird fountain. The parking lot was even homely - for a parking lot. Steps led up to the front doors which sat on a slope. Come to notice, the entire building was on a slope. It did not look solid from that angle, but something told me that it would not topple over. Besides, it had been there since mom was young.**

**I felt good about researching in a quiet place surrounded by books. Libraries are as traditional as public places come in today's time. I had to remind myself how the Dewey Decimal System worked because I had not used it for some time. I decided to trek the aisles instead of looking anything up on the computer. Faith began on one end while I began on the other. One of us would find something helpful.**

**According to Faith, Katie wandered off. She probably went to one of the back rooms to listen to one of the storytellers. That**_** was**_** what she had to live for. Hopefully this trip was going to solve that problem. We could fulfill her and allow her to move on with her life.**

**Most of the books that I saw were biographies and encyclopedias. That told me I was in the wrong section. If Faith found something useful before I did, I would never have heard the end of it. Still, I would rather one of us find something than neither of us.**

**I passed by a younger man while I was searching the seemingly endless shelves of books. He had his nose stuck in one already but looked up to give me a grin. He was younger than me. He made me feel old as a matter of fact. Little things got to me back then before I found out that I was different from others. It was not very securing to know even that fact, but I was getting used to it. Mom would have verified it for me if I was not accepting it already. She was good like that.**

**I ran into Faith again about halfway through. She had picked up a few books and handed them to me.**

"**Here you go," she said with a smile. "I am going to go find Katie while you check into those."**

"**Thanks for all of the help," I said sarcastically.**

**I sat down with the three that she gave me and scanned the titles, hoping to find one that looked especially helpful. There was **_**Spirits and You, The Life After Life, **_**and **_**Understanding the Invisible. **_**I went for the last one first because it seemed the least cliché of the three.**

**While Faith ventured to the back to search for our buddy, I sat at the computer table and took a peek into my chosen novel. I found pictures - which helped - because I was not into reading very much at the time. I did not know that reading would grow on me so much. The chapters were written to tell a story together. It was more of a story about convincing than anything else. I was not impressed. I switched to **_**Spirits and You**_**.**

**The second one was much better. It was written from a more unbiased viewpoint. The author told the things that they had experienced and illustrated them with stories. I could get into stories more easily when I could make my own opinion on the topic.**

**Still, I was not learning anything new. We were getting more out of our experiences than from the books. I could tell that I had not read anything from an actual spiritualist. **

"**Boo!" Faith whispered in my ear.**

**Even in a whisper, the urgency in her voice and because she did it from behind startled me.**

"**Don't do that in a library," I scolded her. "Did you find Katie?"**

"**Yes, I did," she answered proudly yet still in a whisper, "and not only her, but I found someone else too."**

**I looked to her side but saw no one. I knew where this was going. Talented little Faith had done it again and found a spirit.**

"**Spirit?"**

"**Yup," she answered in an unconcerned voice. "Oh, and guess what - this one has blood on his face."**

**I gulped. Spirits looked the same way as the last time they were while alive so this guy must have been roughed up before he was killed.**

"**Ha ha! Are you afraid? You are turning green," Faith teased.**

**I looked at my reflection on the computer screen. It was impossible to make out a green color, but I definitely did not feel great.**

**"Don't worry," Faith began again, "we don't have to do anything to this one. He is just passing through. He is a residual spirit."**

**"And that means…?" I replied in question.**

**"It means that he haunts the same place all of the time. He has no choice but to take the path that he is on over and over again."**

**I figured out where he was when his "energy" appeared. It was a different color from the ones that I had noticed before. It was a green color. Green for residual I assumed. Having a name for that "energy" would have been helpful, but I was happy just to be able to understand it better.**

**"Don't mind him," said Faith, "are you going to check any of those out?"**

**"I am going to get this one." I showed her the book.**

**"Nice," she said as she flipped her hair off of her shoulders.**

**I did not ask about her, but Katie must have been with her again or she would not have been ready to go.**

**The librarian at the front desk looked familiar. After a moment I recognized her. She had been the librarian when I was younger. Her name was Amelia. That stuck out for me because she had always let me call her by that. I was a likable kid, unlike someone else that came from the same branch of the tree. I eyed Faith while Miss Amelia was scanning my check-out into the computer.**

**I liked progress; and progress, we were making. I felt as if knowledge was presenting itself to us in the most auspicious ways. Katie had done her part, and it was our turn. Oddly enough, our next destination was predetermined by a spirit younger than ten.**


End file.
